The Arrivals
Luggage weighing down two trolleys they stare at each other as people rush to catch their flights or search through the arrivals for their loved ones.
"So…have a safe flight back," Bonnie says, feeling intensely awkward. She knew this was going to happen once they touched down in Richmond but now after spending an eventful and surprising two weeks together the brief, relief filled farewell she had envisioned at the beginning of the honeymoon does not happen.
"I'll see you in a week. Just one week," he smiles weakly, his eyes never leaving her face.
As Kai's connecting flight to Portland sounds over the intercom all the strange sheepish hesitance dissolves and they throw their arms round each other, kissing desperately. Now in a tight embrace they are faced with the dilemma they had been silently trying to avoid: they won't be able to let go.
"Come back with me," Kai demands, picking her up until the tip of her chucks balance against the floor.
"I can't. I have a council meeting in Salem tomorrow." Her honeymoon is officially over for the other Bennetts, now she must assume the role of leader. Kai growls, kissing her roughly and Bonnie grips his shoulders tightly, forgetting the world around them. But as the intercom announces the final call for the flight to Portland she pulls back, gasping. "You're gonna miss it."
"I'll catch another...in a week."
"Kai…you know neither of us will get any work done. Tomorrow is important, it's the first time I'm going before my coven as leader. I can't be distracted."
He smiles, nuzzling her mouth. "Oh, guess I should avoid calling then…" he grins when she scowls. They kiss repeatedly, trying to break apart until Bonnie has to push him. He gives her one hard, quick kiss before racing away with his trolley, shouting at people to move aside. If he did not run he would not be able to leave her side. Bonnie smiles, watching him go but feels something hollow in her stomach.
She turns to find her grandmother watching. Her eyebrow is cocked, her mouth quirked and Bonnie feels a flood of embarrassment before Sheila breaks into a big grin and throws out her arms. Tears in her eyes Bonnie hugs her grandmother.
The Friend's Feed
"Well, someone's had quite the vacation."
"I never imagined it would be like this. I thought when I got back home that would be it, we'd go our separate ways."
"…Isn't that what you've just done?" Sheila asks as they drive back into a rainy Mystic Falls. Bonnie watches the familiar houses flicking past, noting bizarrely how small it all seems now. How ordinary. Fidgeting with the crystal beads around her neck Bonnie shrugs.
"Physically yes, but…" she taps her head and sighs. Sheila lifts one hand off the steering wheel and taps lightly at her chest.
"What about here?"
"…I don't know. I mean two weeks ago I was toying with ways to kill him, now…I guess I don't hate him," she says, casting her grandmother a quick glance and when she sees the knowing smirk there she hides her own bashful smile against the curl of her fingers. Staring at the rain pebbled window she grows more sombre. "He's dangerous grams, he didn't hurt our family but he was capable of harming his. There are things he doesn't want to share."
"And are those things you want to know?"
"If Kai of all people is scared of something then it must be bad. Just the thought…" she drifts off, grimacing and Sheila nods sagely.
"When the truth is dark the mind will conger up the most creative things to replace it. If that truth is bloodstained…" she leaves off as Bonnie nods in understanding. What she does not know her imagination will fill in each gruesome possibility with gusto. What scares her is if the truth is even more frightening then the fantasy.
Bonnie distracts herself by looking down at her cell as Sheila speaks. "Your newly appointed secretary is already in Salem, he arrived from the Archives a week ago. His wife was one of the witches involved in the linking," she adds as they turn into Elena's street. Bonnie frowns, dragging her eyes away from the picture Kai has just sent her of the Appalachians.
"My secretory is a librarian?" dread floods her and she gasps. "Please tell me it's not Luka!"
Sheila laughs. "No, from reports he's not even a witch. His wife was assistant to Anna. Traditionally they always have close links to the libraries."
Bonnie nods, only half listening as she orders Kai not to hijack his plane and fly it back to her but as they suddenly start to slow she looks up…to see a person stepping in front of the car.
"Caroline!" she yells in surprise as the blonde vampire holds up a hand, her face breaking into an excited grin. Bonnie, who spots Elena on the sidewalk, bounces in her seat. She has not seen her two oldest friends in a very long time. She turns to grams, too excited to speak and she laughs.
"Go ahead, we'll catch up later. Just a heads up child, some discriminating evidence might have appeared on your feed."
"What?" Bonnie blinks, thinking of Kai and then looks to the side just in time to find Elena's cell phone pressed against the passenger side window. A blurry picture of her and Kai laughing drunkenly looks back at her. Their first picture together. There had not been any wedding photos, which she now regrets with a leaden weight.
Caroline's face suddenly appears beside the picture. "Bonnie. Shelia. Bennett!" she says sharply and Bonnie looks at her grandmother for back up but she just pats her cheek gently. Bonnie inhales, nodding.
"Okay, time to face the music…"
The fact that one of their oldest friends since infancy is not only married by now the leader of an entire coven is so much for her friends to manage that they seem to have divided these two revelations between them, like two tennis players battling one opponent.
"A June wedding! A June wedding!"
"Do we have to curtsy to you now? Am I even allowed to look you in the eye?"
"And married to another leader?! You're like double the regal."
"It happened so fast, I mean I think it did, I didn't even know you were dating. Oh my god Bonnie are you pregnant? Was it a shot gun wedding? Hex wand wedding?"
"When the first picture appeared on your feed we thought he was a hook up but then more and more. You never post like that, not even when you were with Jeremy."
"Bonnie Parker. I miss the alliteration."
As Caroline finally stops for breath and Elena is distracted by flicking through her pictures Bonnie takes the chance to volley back their multiple questions.
"Okay. The date was out my hands. June is still your month Caro. No you don't have to curtsy or anything else. No I'm not pregnant but yeah it kinda was a shot gun wedding. It was arranged," she waves her hand as their eyes widen in outrage, continuing before they can speak. "The selfies clogged up your feed without me knowing because Kai is a menace and posted them without me knowing. And my name is Bonnie Bennett, there's just an addition at the end now. Okay?"
"No," they say in unison and Bonnie sighs, slumping onto her back on Elena's bed. Her friends sit either side of her, the initial excitement and scandal fading. Now they just look confused. And hurt.
"I'm sorry I never told you. When I left high school my life was so different, so separate from my old life that sometimes it felt like I was looking down at you from the moon."
"You can send texts from the moon, maybe even send wedding invitations," Caroline says softly and Bonnie nods, sitting up.
"I know. I half wanted you there but tradition said that I couldn't bring anyone who wasn't immediate family or a witch."
"Half wanted?" Elena frowns.
Bonnie's stomach knots. This has been the thing she had dreaded, the thing that throughout their excitement - that she is married to a man they are already wildly intrigued by, a man that they have seen her kiss and hug in pictures – they do not see the dark strain and wildness of their relationship.
"I told you it was arranged. I didn't know him, he didn't know me but this thing had to happen. An arrangement, nothing personal. I thought I could take my heart out of it, it wasn't real so why get mushy? Why get both of you excited and happy for me when at the time I was miserable. No," she corrects as they take her hands. "I was angry. I hated him, I didn't trust him. He – he's dangerous, dangerous like the Salvatores, like Klaus…but he changed and I don't think there's any going back for him."
"And you?" Elena asks, gazing at her gently as Caroline rubs her back.
Bonnie shrugs. "The only thing I can do is to go forward. I have members that depend on me now, to find answers and if I'm lucky, a way to make things right. I – I think I can do that with him beside me."
"That's what you think, what do you feel?" Caroline asks and Bonnie laughs, shrugging.
"I have no idea. He's the leader, like I am. We're in totally different places compared to a week ago. It's going to be different. The goof who liked to make me blueberry pancakes and make the stars spell out my name…I don't know if I'll see him when I face the Gemini leader."
Elena smiles, understanding. "Maybe that depends if the person he sees next is Bonnie Bennett or the High Priestess of the East Coast," she says grandly and then inclines her head formally. They giggle but then she see the realisation settle on Elena's face and Bonnie pins the exact moment her friend begins to see her as another person, like a light has just illuminated a side of her that had previously been invisible.
The gulf that has been in affect since she left high school, since she cut those ties that almost got her grandmother killed, widens but this time for very different reasons. She is not the same and soon all her old friends will know and slowly begin to accept it…if she does. Bonnie grips Elena's hand, smiling hard and then takes Caroline's. "I promise that I'll flood you with pictures and messages about me, not the priestess. Okay? I need to remind myself who I am."
They nod in agreement, swearing solemn vows before they drag Bonnie off the bed, Caroline jumping around happily.
"Okay so you can't recreate the wedding…right?" she asks, eyes wide and Bonnie shakes her head with a laugh. "Okay, so the only thing we can do is to have a post hen night party!" she cries out and then from behind Elena's mirror she pulls out a box, which seems to be full of feathers.
"Boa up girls, the night is calling," Caroline says as she places a Just Married sign around Bonnie's neck and she looks in the mirror and laughs. Tomorrow her life as the coven leader will start, let tonight by the last hurrah of Bonnie Bennett the newlywed.
Winter's Island
Bonnie adjusts the wreath of amaranth that circles her thumping head, staring at her reflection. The night is a hazy vision of dirty laughter and happy tears, one that she cherishes. She wishes she had Kai's hangover recipe however. She focuses on her appearance. She has opted for a high necked white shirt and a dark grey pant suit with blazer. She has a severe, Victorian air but she feels anything but. Stomach turning over and over she looks at her grandmother, who has a simple sprig of the flower pinned to her lapel.
"I feel like I should be more priestessy. Maybe I should have gone with the long dress?"
"You look fine. Trust me dressing up gets old quick when you're called to council meetings every week. Anna usually strolled up in cut offs and sneakers."
Bonnie smiles, thinking of her loud and tall aunt, the opposite to Sheila Bennett. She is not sure when it happened but the painful ache when she thinks about Anna, or those who took part in the linking, does not hit her so hard. Hope is a balm, a strangely invigorating one. Her family could be alive and that is what she will tell the other council members today.
"Are they already here?" she asks, staring out the window of her suite. The headquarters of the Bennett Coven resides in Salem, on an island overlooking the harbour. The building, which just looks like an old abandoned ruin, is circled with layer upon layer of warding charms to repeal those not invited. The coven leader has her own suit, which takes up the entire top floor.
"Waiting in the chamber," Sheila says as they make their way from the room, Bonnie trying not to throw up. She touches her pocket and then draws her hand away. She had turned her phone off, the temptation to talk to Kai too much. Mind whirling from her husband thousands of miles away to the room of witches a floor below Bonnie does not sense the man rounding the corner until books, paper and Bonnie Bennett are sent flying to the floor.
"Oww."
"Oh my god. I'm so sorry. I couldn't see, cause of the books," the man gasps as he reaches down to gather up his notes, then stares at the crown on her head, realises that he has just knocked the coven leader down and drops the papers again. "Let me – let me help you up."
Her butt sore but amused Bonnie accepts his help, taking note of his appearance. He is a few years older than herself, with curly brown hair and wide set, large green eyes. He is handsome but with his huge eyes he looks constantly surprised. Her amusement deepens at the red flush over his cheeks as he steps back, scratching the back of his head and then offers his other had.
"I'm Atticus Shane. Your adviser," he says this like he's breaking a death and Bonnie laughs.
"You're the secretary?"
"Yeah. I understand if you wanna reconsider but I promise I'm not usually so clumsy. I handle delicate things for a living."
"I don't bruise so easy," she says as Sheila dusts off the back of her blazer and Bonnie straightens the crown again. Shane gathers the fallen papers, Sheila taking some of the books from him, giving him a wink. Clearly they have met before. Despite the bumpy start if her grams likes him then having him as her adviser makes her feel more confident.
"So, anything I should know before I head in?"
"This is the list of the sitters. You'll find nine representatives from different districts, mostly second in commands and relations to the…departed," he says and Bonnie looks at him, remembering that grams had said Shane's wife had been one of the witches in the linking.
"…The other four?"
"Retired coven leaders."
Bonnie stops as they reach the landing, where numerous portraits of old leaders hang. Most are dead now but Bennetts can live for a long, long time. She stares at a picture of a tiny, white haired woman, who scowls in judgement and her heart sinks. "Ernestine?"
"She's present, yes." Shane says and Bonnie groans. Sheila laughs and takes Bonnie's hand.
"Her bark is worse than her bite. She's sharp as a blade, she was the one that built this place."
"And now some stranger is going to give her orders."
"Not orders. It's a council, you reach an agreement."
"Right," Bonnie shakes her head, closing her eyes and wonders what Kai is doing. He also has a meeting with his own members, members who had been involved in locking him up for years and did nothing. Whatever happens in the chambers it can't match the horrible tension that Kai must be feeling.
Bonnie kisses Sheila's cheek, who leaves her with Shane. She will be in the room, as acting regent. Bonnie looks back at the portraits, finding her aunt and notices necklace that she wears, realising that all are adorned such.
"I don't…"
"You won't, not until you're officially ordained. You know, like a coronation," Shane says, looking between her and the pictures. "It should have happened already but with the wedding…"
"Right…so I'm not officially the leader?"
"Kinda? You've been elected but the swearing in has yet to be performed."
Bonnie nods, feeling even more unstable. She is the leader but she's not. What she has to say feels even more flimsy and insubstantial than ever, her ideas and hopes easily dismissed with a wave. She has to make them believe, to inhale her words. Seeing her uncertainty Shane pats her shoulder, almost upending his papers again.
She inhales deeply, holding it before descending the wooden staircase to the marble foyer below. The great chamber doors open silently, letting her pass and the people sitting around table in the wood panelled room turn to her. She keeps her head up, hands at her sides until she sits on the highest backed chair, Shane taking the chair just set back from her own.
Fire burns in a dish in the centre of the table, smelling strongly of sage. It casts the council members faces in shifting light and shadow, warm one moment and dark the next. She must look the same and the thought gives her a little more strength.
"I remember you when you was this high," an elderly man says, his bald head shinning. His smile is friendly, though Bonnie hardly recalls him. "This was before your mama left."
"Good riddance," Ernestine says, her voice surprisingly strong and melodious. Bonnie clamps down on the pain rising through her centre.
"We're here to talk about the previous council members and what happened to them."
"They're dead," a beautiful woman says bluntly, who Bonnie does recall. Her name is Bree and she owns a bar. She had been the life of the party at family gatherings. "My husband is dead…or is Sheila right? You think otherwise?"
"That's what we're here to discuss. I have information that points to the possibility that they might not be."
"Yeah, Gemini information," a girl scoffs, who looks like she should be in high school. "They're liars and any information that they might give us comes with strings," she tugs an imaginary puppet and Bonnie frowns at her but someone else comes to her defence.
"A Bennett witch is not so easily fooled or played with," Ernestine says and the other members nod in agreement.
"I used a truth serum to get this information. If any strings were pulled they were tightly connected to my fingers," Bonnie says to chuckles. It is half the truth; she does not have to tell them the majority of the information came from Kai voluntarily.
"So what did the Parker boy say?" the bald man says. Bonnie looks down at the seating plan Shane gave her and sees he is called James.
"A lot, so please just listen and ask questions until after I finish. There's things I don't know and neither does he." Lies but again not for them to know. She wants them to believe she has Kai under sway, who they clearly do not trust purely for being a Gemini.
"Okay, we're all ears," Bree says and Bonnie licks her lips, inhales and then begins. She speaks for an hour or more, starting with the gifts from the Regent of New Orleans, diverting back to her coming of age presentation, to a week ago in Greece and back round again. It is a tale that is confused and nonlinear, broken by realisations and sudden connections as she speaks. She also has to omit personal moments, though finding herself praising Kai for risking his life. Finally, when she shows them the picture of the ascendant the members look a little more understating.
"I, uh, I probably should have written it down first."
"I got the gist," the young girl says, who is called Yasmin, who seems to have softened to her. Bonnie looks at Shane, who whispers in her ear. He has been taking minutes, a pearl handled pen that absorbs the things said in layers, even as he writes.
"We'll have to spend some time doing that, getting your account recorded."
She nods as the members pass the picture of the ascendant around. Ernestine shakes her head. "Told them not to mess with it, not to get involved with Gemini business but they didn't listen."
"Why did they mess with it?"
"Curiosity, of course," James says. "The relic was immensely powerful; as soon as you were in the room with it you felt it. Evil thing but what Shane found out got them worked up."
Surprised, Bonnie turns to her adviser, who looks startled at being mentioned. "Oh. Well I just offered theories."
"What?" Bonnie asks and everyone stares at him. He is the only human in the room. If she was human she would be shivering with fear if thirteen witches were staring at her. To his credit he only bangs his knees when he stands up, putting his notes on the table.
"I work at the Bennett wing at the Archives, as you know, but my field is in archaeology. Finding lost and buried magical objects. Jo Parker knew this and sent that relic to me."
"The ascendant? Why did she have it?"
"She found it. Before the merge she was staying on the island you just came back from. She dreamt about a woman calling to her from the sea every night. Finally she had a look and found that."
"Buried treasure?" Bonnie says and then vividly recalls Kai trying to perused her to go swimming to find cursed jewellery. They never did manage. When she tells him this he is going to go crazy. "Why did Jo, a Gemini, send it to you?"
Shane smiles a little sheepishly. "My other little passion is the history between your coven and theirs. If you can't find me in the Bennett archives it's because I'm usually snooping around the Gemini shelves."
As he says this Bonnie feels with an intense surety that Kai must have tracked down Shane, likely threatened him but clearly left him alive. He had told her he had been to the Archives before, which explains his reluctance but maybe this is why. He lied.
Stop. Don't jump to conclusions. Speak to Shane after the meeting.
Keeping her face impassive and her feelings masked in a room full of witches who can detect changes in the atmosphere is hard but she manages it, she hopes. Bonnie taps the phone as it comes back to her, noting the Kai has sent a picture of himself with his fingers cocked at his temple. She pockets it.
"The relic is different from the one that helped to imprison Kai, though very similar."
Shane nods. "I suspect that there was an attempt to recreate the one Jo found, which was very old."
"Recreate?" Ernestine asks, which must be new information. Shane nods, turning to the rest of the group. He had only been focused on Bonnie.
"If Kai is telling the truth and the ascendant is a way to transport to another world then think of it like a key. Keys can be cut, more sets made."
Bonnie shakes her head. "But Jo only found that last year. Kai was imprisoned in 1994, which is when his key was made." At least she thinks it was, thinking of the old brand on Kai's back.
Shane smiles and pushes a photograph from the pile on the table towards Bonnie. She looks down and sees a very detailed drawing of the Greek ascendant, a drawing that appears to be on some kind of scroll.
"There have been depictions of this device recorded for thousands of years. I had seen it but when Jo sent the relic to me I spent weeks and weeks trying to remember where. I searched through the entire Gemini Archive and found nothing but then my wife reminded me who Jo sent it to," he smiles fondly, fiddling with his wedding ring. "The parchment and others were buried deep in the Bennett Archives, barely noticed but there it was."
"…It's a Bennett relic?" Bonnie stares at Shane in amazement as he nods, grinning but someone is not so pleased.
"Some things that are buried deep are like that for a reason Indiana Jones," Ernestine chastises. "That thing and the history it's attached to is not something to be dragged up. The poor Parker girl should have left it at the bottom of the ocean."
The members nod but Bonnie frowns. "Even if there's a chance that we can rescue them? If they are in another world then there's a way in and a key out there somewhere."
Yasmin shakes her head, who Bonnie is started to doubt is really as young as she appears. "A key that a Gemini stole and likely killed for. Let's just say they are in this world. Thirteen of our most powerful and skilled witches can't let us know they're alive?"
"Maybe they're stuck? I don't know but I am going to find that ascendant because even the possibility is more than any of us had months ago. I know you don't know me but if there's one thing you should it's that I don't sit and do nothing if people I love are in danger or need help. I don't give up."
As she finishes Bonnie thinks she spots a small pleased smile on old Ernestine's face but then the fire flickers and she is scowling again.
"I'm getting stiff sittin," the ex-leader grumbles, shifting in her seat and Bree helps her to stand. She inclines her head as they leave, Bonnie half wondering if she should excuse them but then they're gone. Annoyed but relieved that the meeting has come to an impromptu end she turns to Shane again.
"I need a history lesson. Tomorrow," she says, tired. She's been on her butt for hours but she is exhausted.
"I'll pencil it in. Shall I come back with you?"
Bonnie nods and they exchange numbers. As she sees the image if his wife Caitlin on his phone she smiles, recognising her, though they had hardly talked. "She's English right?"
"Yeah. Thanks for addressing her in the present tense, I believe she is very much in the present too." He says confidently and Bonnie smiles, her heart going out to him while also feeling conviction. She is not alone in believing her family is alive. Shane taps the picture. "Before she was appointed Anna's secretary she worked in the Bennett Archives. I was teaching occult in this weird little place in London and that's how we met. She couldn't keep what she was a secret for long and I got to see the things I was teaching were real."
Bonnie smiles, imagining how mind-blowing that must have been. She looks down at her own cell, remembering Kai and then looks back up. "Have – have you met him before?" she shows him Kai's picture.
His huge green eyes widen and he goes very still. He opens his mouth, as if bursting to speak but then he leans back, a dreamy denial on his face as he stares at Kai again. "No, sorry, never seen him."
Bonnie nods, trying to smile but her heart is thudding. Vampires can compel people to do anything, an ability that is gifted to them along with their immortality, all possible because of one factor: magic. Kai seems to have compelled Shane to forget him. Gripping her cell phone in a shaking hand Bonnie forces herself to calm before she sends him a text she can't take back. Maybe Shane has never meet him, maybe he has. He does have that bumbling, forgetful professor vibe.
She thanks him as Sheila hands her coat. Bonnie realises then that her grandmother had not spoken a word and Bonnie asks why as they all make their way to her car. Sheila smiles.
"They came to see the High Priestess, not me."
"Was I okay?"
"You were more than okay. You should be proud of yourself. You got Ernie to crack a smile."
Bonnie, pleased to be right, gets into the car along with Shane as rain starts to fall softly. It will take hours to reach Mystic Falls, enough time for Shane to spill everything he knows...
The Menagerie
Which turns out takes more time than it took to reach Mystic Falls. Tired, her head thumping, Bonnie collapses onto her bed, staring at the ceiling as the last of the light starts to fade away. She pulls out her cell, notes the numerous missed calls and throws it across the bed limply. She cannot deal with Kai right now, not after a day filled with so much talking. Kai could speechify anyone to death…and then make them forget.
Oh, why does this keep on happening, she thinks and groans, throwing an arm over her eyes. She is convinced now that her husband did meet Shane, who has no recollection of the meeting. Kai must have been searching for the 1994 ascendant and would naturally go to the Gemini Archives. It is not out of the realm of possibility that he ran into Shane…but why not tell her? As she thinks a taping noise reaches her ears and she looks at the window. Nothing. She closes her eyes again, trying to clear her mind.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Bonnie sits up, looking around the room. The noise is not coming from the window or even the door. It's coming from the mirror. Shuffling to the end of the bed she peers at the floor length glass, which is now silent but as she watches a small patch of steam billows over the glass and then an invisible finger proceeds to draw a heart.
"…Kai," she whispers and despite the suspicions of today she grins when he suddenly appears in the mirror. As Agatha had done in Greece her reflection is now gone and over Kai's shoulder she can see an unfamiliar bedroom. His.
"You weren't answering," Kai is dressed in a crumpled blue shirt and pants, looking as tired as she feels.
"I've been busy," she says as he lays his hands flat on the mirror he is standing before.
"Come closer," he says, hungry eyes roving over her face and body. She slips off the bed and walks to the mirror, head cocking to the side.
"It's like you're right here," she whispers, pressing a hand to the surface, over his but all she feels is the glass under her skin. She sighs anyway.
"I wish. So, how was the family reunion?"
"Weird but I think I convinced them that there's a way to save them. How was yours?"
He shrugs, grinning. "Still here. One of the main reasons I even went was to see if one of those assholes had the ascendant. No one used it so it seems they're either bidding their time or they don't have it."
She nods, moving closer to the mirror. She should tell him what happened at the meeting but the desire is not there, only another and more pressing. She draws her finger along his cheek, a caress that he cannot feel but his breath fogs up the mirror.
"So, speaking of ascendants…anything you wanna tell me?"
"...No? But I'm guessing from your tone I should?"
She shrugs, slowly turning so her shoulder faces him. "Do you know who my newly appointed adviser is?" she asks and Kai shakes his head, eyes lazily trailing down her throat. "…Atticus Shane."
Kai's eyes snap to her face. "…Who?"
"Don't. Try. It," she says, tapping the glass with each word and conflict dances in his eyes. As she walks away from the mirror, back to him, she hears it jerk but when she looks back it's upright and Kai is pressed against it.
"Okay, okay. I know the name."
"You met him."
"Yes, okay? I was researching the ascendant, came across him there who told me something I didn't like."
"What? What did you do?"
"It was nothing."
"What?"
"I set fire to his research and he freaked the fuck out. I put it out again, not a singe on anything and made him forget for his own delicate sensibilities," he shrugs again but then shakes his head. "I don't like him, he gave me the creeps."
Bonnie laughs in amazement. "Someone gave you the creeps?"
"I'm actually keenly attuned to people. He's a weirdo."
"You don't get to call people names. You lied to me, again. You knew Jo had found something and said nothing. You knew all along that my family were in another world."
Kai exhales in frustration, looking around the edge of the mirror as if trying to find a way in. "I knew there was something there, that she had made a discovery but not about your family. I thought it was my ascendant. I had no idea there was another. That's why I asked you to come search with me."
"Because you thought your ascendant was down there? A thing that you can't actually touch," she remembers. "No wonder you wanted me to go along, you needed me."
Kai shakes his head, banging his palms on the glass. "Not everything I do is a manipulation. Yes I suspected it might have been there but I wasn't sure. At that point I didn't know if I could trust you but I still asked."
"Cause you needed me to locate it."
"Bonnie…I trust no one. Literally, until you. You could use it against me, I didn't know what you knew or what you were hiding but for some crazy reason I told you what had happened. You know now there's a weapon out there, a key that can lock me up, you can use that…but I'm hoping that through all the fights and everything else you actually started to trust me too."
"You can't trust someone if they keep things from you," she counters and he nods, smiling.
"I know. Come on, lets make a promise. We'll tell each other what we learn and know? I'll tell you information that will help you."
"In return for Bennett secrets?" she shakes her head.
"Information that relates to me and my coven, yes. I'll do the same for you," he says sincerely but Bonnie is unsure. Kai makes a fist and punches very gently against the mirror. "I wish I could be in that room right now. I think this is fucking with my vocals."
She smiles, coming closer. "Guess you're not so persuasive when you're stuck behind a millimetre of glass three thousand miles away," she jokes but as the distance becomes more solid and so far away her smile fades. Kai tilts his head, eyes half hooded.
"I don't know, I think I can talk a fair game. Come here," he whispers and she does it, stopping when she is inches from his refection. She presses her forehead to the warm glass, staring into his eyes. Below the anger, the frustration and the strange dark excitement is a feeling she has been trying to ignore. She misses him. She barely knows him, what she does should make her run and yet her body yearns to feel his lips on hers.
"This is kinda pathetic, you know. It's been what? Seventy two hours? We're gonna see each other in a few days."
"I know. I can't wait, it's gonna be so much fun." He grins in excitement and then sighs. His fingers trace over the bridge of her nose and then over her lips. "I want to touch you," the glass fogs as he speaks, his fingertips now running down the slope of her throat. Bonnie lets her head fall back, staring at him under heavy lids.
"You are."
"Are you getting ready for bed? Don't let me stop you…" he whispers it, eyes on hers and Bonnie inhales deeply, her heart beating hard. She smirks softly. She lifts her hands to unbutton the top of her blouse, his fingertips tracing her clavicle but as she slowly unbuttons his hand follows, gliding over the exposed skin that he can see. She had unhooked and taken her bra off as soon as she got home and as she lowers her hands his fingers graze between the bare valley of her breasts. Heart pounding wildly she watches his finger descend lower, circling her belly button before reaching the top of her pants. His dark blue eyes look at her, his gaze smouldering. She hesitates.
"Are you finished?"
"…I should. This is strange."
He smirks softly. "This is foreplay with a witch."
"Hmm and no pay off…?" she murmurs, watching him bite his lip in agonised anticipation before she tilts her head to the side and closes her eyes. She pops one of the buttons free and slips her hand slowly into her pants. This time she feels the way the mirror shakes as he grips the side of his, exhaling. Eyes closed she does not see the way his eyes flick from her hidden hand moving to her other which tickles along her ribs, a teasing touch before she cups a breast in her hand and squeezes slowly.
"Fuck."
Bonnie groans at the sound of his strained voice, her fingers rubbing over the fabric of her panties, pleasure spiking through her before waves of it make her gasp, the mirror fogging. Biting her lips she tries to breathe through her nose but she cannot, moaning his name softly and the mirror trembles again. Circling her clit faster she yells loudly, her legs shaking and drops to her knees, free hand pressing against the mirror. Orgasm rushing through her she cries out his name and he hers.
"I need to see you now. Right now," his voice is guttural as she opens her eyes. Kai breathes heavily, sweating and she looks lower. She had not been the only one chasing pleasure. Inhibition now smothered by a dazed and languid arousal she gets on her hands, crawls forward and with one long swipe licks the mirror.
It cracks from side to side as his eyes widen in a crazed look. On his knees now he paws at the glass, desperate and she wishes she could drag him through to her. "I can't wait until London," she moans, pressing against the glass, where his reflection starts to flicker. He has damaged the connection. Staring at each other intensely they realise the answer at the same time.
"The Mall."
"How quickly can you get there?"
"Fifteen minutes. You?" Bonnie jumps to her feet, hastily buttoning her clothes as he moves out of the frame but she can hear him.
"Ten. Where?"
"The – the Menagerie."
Car keys in hand, dishevelled and breathless they stare at each other, frozen before they race for the doors. The mirrors separated by thousands of miles but connected by one magical spell slowly fades to show the true reflections of the rooms they inhabit.
The Menagerie is a hotel set within the centre of the Mall, so called for the massive glass domed café attached to it that houses an impressive collection of magical and extinct birds. They fly from tree to tree, filling the dome with their song as witches enjoy a drink or a meal. One of Bonnie's earliest memories is of her mother taking her to see the massive cage with the phoenix, a huge peacock like bird, who had slept the entire time and not a flame in sight. Abby Bennett had taken a picture of two year old Bonnie pouting, the long orange tail feathers in the cage behind her. The picture, along with her mother, is missing. Now she hardly remembers.
The trees grow dense further from the café, the paths narrowing until they disappear into the dark and dripping foliage. Not a place to be observed but animals peer down at the two witches as they move, grinding up against a tree. They had run from their respective wings of the mall, Kai from the west and Bonnie from the east, meeting in the middle. Throwing her arms round him he had pulled her into the trees, deeper and deeper until they could not take another step.
Legs wrapped around his thrusting hips, her trousers swaying from a branch, Bonnie kisses him as he wildly pounds into her. So desperately aroused he will not last long, which he breathily apologises for before he loses the ability to speak. Crying out, not caring if they have cloaked themselves or not Kai spends himself deep inside her, fingers digging hard into the back of her thighs as she screws his rumpled shirt in her fists.
Birds suddenly take wing, trilling liquid song or screaming and Bonnie watches them flying overhead, the sound of their wings beating almost drowning out their panting. She then buries her face against his neck as he supports her body, still within her. They remain this way until their breathing calms and he pulls away, kissing her face tenderly. The air is quiet, the birds settling. Kai grins.
"Hi."
Bonnie smiles tiredly, hands framing his face. "Hi…how was your day?" she asks and they laugh, stepping back and taking in the sight of each other. They are both sweaty messes. They laugh harder as Kai buckles his belt and Bonnie tries to get her pants down from a high branch. He hooks his arm around her body, pressing against her back as he reaches up to get them for her.
"You're so small," he whispers into her ear as he hands her the pants, pink underwear still inside them. He had ripped them both down her legs and then thrown them away in his haste. They are grass stained, where she had initially pushed him against the tree and fallen to her knees, taking him into her mouth. He had lost his mind then and she wanted to finish him off this way but he wanted to be inside her, eye to eye.
Now she turns in the circle of his arms, buttoning her silk blouse as best she can. A few of them are missing. Now she thinks about it he owes her after one too many ruined tops and shredded knickers. But shopping will have wait, she is falling asleep in the crook of his arms.
"Get a room," she murmurs into his ear and he smiles into her hair, taking her hand.
"I know just the one. Come on," he draws her from the tree, passing the huge filigree gold cage that houses the phoenix, who is very much awake. It watches them walk by, a couple too consumed with each other to notice the burning feathers that float downwards from the bird's perch, ash collecting into a pile below as they settle.
The next morning Bonnie wakes in an unfamiliar room, disorientated before she remembers. They had made love once more but then fell asleep in each other's arms, too tired to even speak. She thinks back on the mirror seduction, her cheeks heating and with a detached scrutiny she ponders how she is changing. She is always had a quiet and hot drive, but nothing like this desire.
Our marriage is cursed, likely by a vengeful witch thousands of years ago. What if this is nature's way of restoring some kind of balance?
Bonnie considers it as she hears Kai showering but immediately feels cold. That she has no choice or agency over these feelings, that her magic is pulsing with a strange and foreign element making her burn is not something she can accept. She is a powerful witch and until she had met Kai she had not known how deeply she could connect with another, just as powerful. Like calls to like and if right now it is just this searing heat then so be it. That she can accept, anything more…
Absent minded she plays with the beads she now wears around her left wrist like Kai, which she thinks of as their make shift wedding rings. Most witches do not adorn rings to mark their marital status, but some do in their personal and individual ways, if at all. She stares up at the coloured glass doom, which pulses with dawn light, rippling over the bed and walls in rainbow hues. Kai comes out to find Bonnie bathed so and stops drying his hair, smiling softly. His appreciation goes unnoticed, Bonnie swooping her hand through the lights gracefully, the crystals around her wrist sparkling and spilling their own radiance over her bare chest, her skin glowing a dark gold in the warm light. Lowering her arm she finally spots him gazing at her, his expression so adoring her heart lifts. Feeling shy she looks away, curled hand by her cheek and smiles when he sits beside her, his hand on her waist while the other turns her face to him.
"You're blushing."
"You're a voyeur."
"You can talk," he scoffs and then licks her cheek and she laughs, pushing him away. He grabs her hands, pulling her up and she groans lazily, slumping back down when he lets go.
"I just wanna stay here. I can be the first coven leader to work from bed. Atticus can take notes from a chair."
"Ha. If I find him within five feet of your bed I'll set him on fire, forget his books," he nuzzles at her throat, this time successfully pulling Bonnie up and out of bed. She scowls at him.
"He's a nice man who is also happily married."
"Or widowed," he quips and then winces when her face falls. "Sorry. There's just something about him that rubs me the wrong way."
"Well you're gonna have to deal with it because he's not going anywhere. You have a secretory too right?"
"Yup. Morris. He's about a hundred and fucking senile. So you have nothing to be worried about. Much," he adds, making her laugh before he directs her to the shower. "Go on, so we can get some breakfast. I'm starving. I'll get us a change of clothes to wear while you're in there," he adds and she smiles.
"Thank you," she kisses his cheek and then heads into the shower room, which also dances with rainbow lights.
They eat under the tropical trees, a few witches around them. Most do not give them a glance but a few do, especially at Kai, who had found a vibrant red t-shirt in a Gemini gift shop and put it on right there. On the front is a slogan printed in white.
I Can't Keep Calm
I'm a Gemini
"Dork," she says and he shrugs happily. He had found her a green shirt, with a similar slogan that she had refused to wear at first but now she loves it.
Head Witch In Charge
Eating scrambled eggs and salmon, sipping on good coffee they talk about their upcoming trip to London, where they will stay and what to expect.
"Rain."
"Beautiful parks."
"Rain. Harry Potter and the creepy Attic Shade."
"Atticus Shane," she corrects and he grins naughtily into his coffee. She knows her adviser will accompany her to the Archives, helping her find anything that will help in their search. However that will likely go better if Kai is not actively antagonising the poor man. She tells him this, who mumbles a promise to behave but Bonnie watches him narrowly over her bagel, fingering her bracelet. Kai points at it with his knife.
"You better take something because I didn't drink anything beforehand."
"Huh?"
"The contraception beads she gave us are apparently potent. Lucia gave them to five couples a few years ago and now they have like a hundred kids between them. Elias told me."
Bonnie smiles, thinking of the quiet little man she had met during their last week in Greece. He had been lovely. Thinking of them, of that place makes her heart ache but she assures herself that next year they will be back. She looks at the bracelet, suddenly thinking of pushing a stroller down the street and then clears her throat, uncomfortable. They had not been using condoms, there had been no need when they both had been regularly taking a powerful anti-conception potion. But he is right, she will need to do so in the next two hours. She looks up, realising how quiet Kai has been, and sees him gazing at her sombrely but catching her gaze he grins, covering it.
"What is it?"
"Nothing."
"I know your coven is reportedly hard on members producing kids. The more the merrier."
Kai nods slowly. "It's true. The more members the more power there is. My life keeps them all linked and that magic kinda travels along those lines like electricity. The older I get the weaker the power becomes. That's why they push so hard for the leader to have as many kids as possible."
"…So why remind me to take something?"
Kai sits back, shrugging. "My coven can't wait to get me out of the way Bon, as soon as we sat down the question of heirs was brought up almost immediately. I told them I was sterile."
"What?" Bonnie's eyes widen and she inhales her coffee. Kai laughs, moving round to rub her back as she coughs.
"I'm not. I just wanted to see those bastards have a collective stroke. My parents had us tested at sixteen. I can confidently tell you I can knock you up, thus the reminder."
"But if your coven depends on you having twins then what? I said I'm not doing that, it's not my job, which is kinda what it sounds like. A requirement."
"My mom was like a brood mare, producing kid after kid. I think my dad took pity on her and that's why he started sleeping around. I think it was a mutual choice; he probably had long serious meetings with the other members. The Gemini coven had witches who were more than happy to comply."
Bonnie grimaces at his tone but then blinks. "How many kids did she have?"
Kai looks like he will not answer, his jaw clenching but finally he speaks. "Eight. She had three sets of twins. Me and Josette, Olivia and Lucas and then Elliot and Lenora. They died in an accident when I was eleven."
"I'm sorry…" she whispers, trying to look him in the eye but he avoids her gaze. He smiles at his feet.
"They blamed me for what happened, said I wasn't watching them…and I wasn't. I can't even remember what I was doing but I didn't want to babysit for two crying toddlers. I was home for the holidays, I told you that they separate us at a young age and we were sent to different schools but we came together sometimes. My family went out, left me to look after them…" his gaze is unfocused, mind now in the past. "I fell asleep, woke up the next morning and the moment I found them in the pool my parents came home. Like it was timed," he shakes his head, smiling but it's a hollow thing.
"It was an accident," she says, barely managing to keep the question out of her voice. Kai looks up and finally nods. He had been a kid himself at the time. Surely his sociopathy did not start so young?
"I didn't care about them but I didn't want them dead. They had no magic," he adds and Bonnie leans back slowly. Not that they were innocent children. They had no magic, they were not a factor for him, or she assumes his parents.
"Those poor kids," she shakes her head, shaken and can now see why Kai is hesitant about children, even though his future depends on producing heirs. He must feel guilt; he can barely look her in the eye.
He rubs his hands over his face, sitting back and groaning. "God, I haven't thought about them in such a long time. I think I saw them like five times in total before that day? No wonder they kept on hiding, I was a stranger…" he shakes his head again. "My other two siblings were born a year apart and also had no magic. I think Joey is an accountant now and Tisha a kindergarten teacher? I'm not sure, they're not involved with the coven anymore."
Bonnie looks down at the matching bracelet on his wrist, that he picks at. She has imagined having children in the future but the thought of bringing twins into the world who will one day have to battle to the death for leadership? That some official from the Gemini coven would try to take them from her? She can't do it.
"There has to be a way to stop merging, break the link," she says and he nods.
"That's what I plan to do next, once I find my ascendant."
"And help me find mine," she reminds him and he inclines his head in agreement. Bonnie nods, getting to her feet and he stands with her. He smiles fondly, tugging on her shirt.
"I'm just here to do your bidding."
"Glad you finally understand. Now let's forget about your crazy coven for a day and go find the dodo. I heard the very last one is here."
"Mmm, I heard they taste like chicken."
"Kai."
"What?"
The search for the elusive dodo is fruitless so they turn their attention to the numerous Alcoves, a cheap warren of hand crafted garments, jewellery, food stands and numerous other establishments. The shops overlooking the Menagerie are expensive and exclusive, a place that Bonnie can now afford but the warrens are familiar. Hand in hand, so they do not get separated, Bonnie looks at a stall selling rare books while Kai haggles with the owner of tiny apothecary opposite.
"How much? Are you kidding? You know I can make it myself for half that."
"Then make it yourself," the man says with a shrug and Kai grins. He is trying to get some tea for Bonnie.
"God you're really selling yourself here Bernard, I'm agonising what to do," Kai taps his lips and Bonnie rescues the owner, who looks like he is about to call security.
"There's a café I like down there Kai. See if there's any tables free while I get myself my own tea. Cause I'm a grown woman and can sort out my own birth control," she looks at him pointedly and he throws his hands up.
"Fine, but don't come crying when Bernard robs you blind."
"My name is Tony," the man says and Kai tilts his head, pouting and runs his fingers down the chubby man's cheek
"Bernard suits you better. I'm actually offended that you don't remember your own name, I christened it. This was like nineteen years ago but still," Kai shakes his head in reproach as the man just blinks in bewilderment.
"Kai go before I turn your hair white."
"I'm going…bye Bernie," he winks and leaves, whistling and Bonnie sighs. The owner stares after Kai, frowning heavily before he goes wide eyed.
"I remember him! That asshole used to steal from me during the 90's. Damn, he hardly looks any different."
"I'm sorry, for everything," Bonnie says and means it. She can just imagine the trouble he must have caused when bored. Stealing was probably Kai on a well-behaved day.
"Do you want to poison him?" he asks seriously and Bonnie half laughs, half groans.
"No. I really do need the tealeaves. Do you want me to have his offspring?" she deadpans and Tony-Bernie gets to work at once. He gives her the tea in a paper envelope and slips another alongside it with a wink.
"On the house."
"I'm not going to poison my husband."
"Don't worry. It will make him lose his voice for several hours. That's what I remember, he never shut up. Please, it will brighten my day and bring peace to yours."
Bonnie considers and then takes it with a smile. Wondering how Kai would cope without being able to talk for hours amuses her at first but then she considers that he likely spent months not saying anything. For someone like Kai, not having someone to bounce off of, it must have been hell.
Putting the packets in her bag, thinking about throwing the voiceless herbs away once out of sight of the apothecary she searches for Kai at the half empty café but does not see him. Her cell buzzes and she finds a message from Kai, who is in the bathroom and will be out shortly. Bonnie takes a seat outside with a sigh, giving her feet a rest. She looks over the menu, thinking of what sandwich to get when she notices a woman reading a book across from her. She is in her mid-thirties, with masses of curly blonde hair and Bonnie struggles to place her before it clicks.
Olivia, Kai's last remaining sister. Bonnie has not seen Liv since her brother's funeral but even before that they had never talked. She and her twin were potential leaders and had nothing to say to Bonnie, the highschooler. Well now we have, she thinks and gets up.
Liv has not noticed her, engrossed in her book but as Bonnie clears her throat she looks up.
"Hi, I'm Bonnie. I'm uh, well I'm -"
"I know who you are," Liv says, not unkindly but very bluntly. She puts the book down and looks around. "Is he here?"
"He's in the bathroom."
"Right," she says and proceeds to put her book away, leaving her hot coffee untouched. She smiles thinly, nodding her head to Bonnie and walks out of the café, leaving Bonnie undecided until she finds herself following the blonde.
"Wait, please."
"I'm not staying within a hundred feet of Kai."
"Okay then I'll walk with you, if that's okay?"
Olivia looks at her, jaw clenching in a way that reminds her of Kai before she finally nods. "Fine."
They walk quickly though the crowds, which thin the closer they get to the Menagerie. Soon they find themselves before the cage of the phoenix, who is asleep. Liv had walked quickly, never looking back but Bonnie had half been expecting Kai to chase after them. She stares at Liv as she looks up at the huge mystical bird above, a half smile on her face.
"Our dad used to take us here every week, me and Luke."
"Weekly? I thought twins were separated?"
"We were but there wasn't as much emphasis on us to do it. It was Jo and Kai who never really saw each other. That changed for everyone, obviously…" she peters off, watching a feather smoke in the plumage and then fall, burning before it crumbles apart. A large pile of ash rests under the bird. "We would come hoping to see her burst into flames but it never happened."
Bonnie smiles sadly, looking up. "They say any day now."
Liv nods, casting her a glance. "You still look…well," she fishes for a word and Bonnie knows she wanted to say alive.
"He's not here to hurt you, you don't have to scared," Bonnie whispers, coming closer and is surprised when Liv begins laughing.
"Scared? You think I ran because I was frightened of him? No. I avoid Kai because if I see him I'm gonna kill him. If I do that I die and so does the rest of our pointless coven. I won't be able to stop myself."
She shakes as she speaks, eyes burning and Bonnie wants to step back from the hate waving off the woman. "Then why are you still here?"
"…Because it's not fair. He becomes leader after merging with Jo. My brother didn't have to die but he made sure he did. Luke is dead because Kai cannot stand the idea of anyone challenging him. I don't know why it came as such a shock, it's not like its the first time," she utters scornfully, looking up at the phoenix. The temperature around the cage is warm, making them sweat and the leaves wet.
Bonnie licks her lips, heart racing as she hedges closer. "What do you mean?"
Liv stares at her, gaze intense and it looks like she is going to say more with a cruel twist of her lips but then she sighs, shaking her head. "Forget it. You're stuck with Kai forever now, I'm not going to make that any worse."
She begins to walk away but Bonnie grabs her arm, stopping her. "Please, I know there are things he is not telling me, things about the past. I know he did something and that's why he was imprisoned in 1994. He won't tell me why."
"I'm surprised; I thought it would have been the first thing out of his mouth. He was proud of what he did, what he managed to do in one night, like a fucked up Santa. He's a monster."
"And now?"
"He merged and gained a soul, big whoop. If he really cared he would you know, actually show it. He hasn't said anything to me, hasn't said sorry or even admitted that he was the reason Luke killed himself. At least before the merge he would admit the shit he did, gloat about them too but now he's not only a serial killer but a coward. A true Gemini."
Bonnie stares at her, forgetting the firebird, the people around her, even her own lungs, which have forgotten how to work. "Serial killer?"
Liv freezes, mouth parting but she is now so incensed that whatever restraint and conscious that kept her back is now gone. "Yes. When he was twenty two he and Jo were told that they would not be merging and he snapped. Me and Luke were in a safe place and he never came for us, not then. My father was sure he would retaliate and he did, but just not in a way he was expecting. You know that my father had back up kids right?"
Bonnie nods, trying to get her dry mouth to work. "He said there were other sets of twins."
"Yeah, were, as in past tense. They were scattered throughout the country but clever Kai found them. At first my father thought it was a joke when the first phone call came but then more and more throughout the night. Kai called him personally, like he wanted him to come stop him but every time my father got to a house he was gone and the kid was dead."
"Stop," Bonnie whispers, hand gripping the hot bar of the cage. But Liv is now in free fall, the words pouring out of her.
"The last call Kai made was just before he found me and Luke. Dad had sent Jo to come and protect us but he got in the house. He stabbed Jo and chased us through house with a baseball bat. He was covered in blood. We managed to cloak ourselves and hide in the woods until dad and the rest of the coven arrived. They lured him out and then locked him away."
Her whole body shaking, her very mind, Bonnie tries to accept what she has heard but she cannot. "Why –why?" is all she can say.
"Why kill them? To get rid of any potential leaders and any siphoners that might replace him too. Jo was depended on them to take her magic and now he had made it so he was the only one they could go to. Jo's illness was looked down on even more then Kai's affliction, no one knew. He lost his mind that night but he still had a lizard brain ticking away under all that madness. So after that it was just me, Luke and Jo. Mom died two years before. Then me and Luke found out at sixteen we were both sterile. My dad tried for more kids but nada. So you can see the predicament."
"…Kai had to be kept alive."
"Yep and that's why we kept putting off the merge. They tried every fertility spell under the sun but nothing worked. So there you go, the True Crimes of Malachai Parker," she finishes and she is shaking, the realisation of what she has just done draining the cruelty from her face. She reaches for Bonnie but never touches her.
"I think you missed one," a rough voice says and Bonnie turns just in time to see Kai lifting his hand. "Motus!"
Liv is blasted off her feet and slams hard against the now burning hot cage. She screams and Bonnie smells her hair burning as he keeps her pressed up against the cage, ten feet off the ground. He snarls at her, pulling her away and then slamming her back against the bars. She cries out in pain and Bonnie snaps out of her paralyses. He is trying to force her into the cage.
"Stop. Kai stop!"
But he hardly hears her. He stares up at Liv, whose hair is starting to smoke. "I heard that nothing can withstand phoenix fire, not even teeth remain. Now my other siblings got your boring garden variety deaths but you Livy-poo, you're gonna go out in style. Or up," he adds with a mad giggle.
"Do it," she grits out, daring him and he laughs again but does not move.
"Kai for god sake you can't do this. What are you doing?!" Bonnie shouts, hitting his chest.
"You heard her, I'm a serial killer," he says and then finally looks at her. His hand shakes, eyes wide and glassy with tears he can't shed. "That's who you married."
Bonnie shakes her head, sick rising up her throat as Liv gives a shrill scream as the phoenix stirs. Bonnie feels a blast of heat against her back as the bird beats it's wings. She stands back, blocking Kai and lifts her finger.
"Put her down or I'm going to stop you," she warns, her own hand surprisingly steady. Kai is shaking all over, breathing heavily and the tears that she has never seen fall begin to.
"She's fucked it up," he hisses and Bonnie shakes her head.
"You did. She's the only sister you've got left. I know you don't want to do this. You can't otherwise she'd be dead already," Bonnie reasons and he looks up at Liv, who has passed out. He suddenly lowers his hand with a guttural gasp and his sister falls to the ground. Bonnie stares at him, hand still raised and if he so much as takes a step forward she will crush him.
"Bonnie…?" he breathes miserably, as if really seeing her and what he has done, and as he says her name a crack sounds above them, making everyone jump. The clear dome ceiling covering the menagerie suddenly cracks from side to side, though no glass falls. There is silence but then all the birds take wing, heading upwards and witches watch in shocked awe as thousands of birds suddenly explode into the Mall and scatter in every direction.
Friends
Bonnie pushes her way through the crowd, tears blurring her vision as witches point up at the birds in wonder. She does not see them, she does not care. She had left Kai, who seemed unable to look away from Liv when healers had finally rushed to her side while others urged them to get away from the cage. Bonnie had not thought about it, she just ran.
She slams into the exit and stumbles out into the back alley of the Mystic Grill. Steps lead up to the diner and Bonnie makes a few before the door behind her bangs open. She whips around, hand up and curse on her tongue to find Caroline looking at her.
"Bonnie!"
All the fight drains away as her body bends over, unable to stop the flood of tears falling. Caroline comes at once, arms circling tightly and gently helps her to sit. In a trembling voice Bonnie explains everything that has happened, everything she has just heard and witnessed until she sits crying, having said everything she can.
"I'm so sorry. I don't know what else to say."
"I know. I just feel stupid. I knew there was something but I didn't want to see what it was. Like a kid finding a rock on a beach. You know there's something gross under it and it either makes you wanna look more or run away. I ran away but now I see everything. He's a monster, I knew that but I thought because he had changed, that he felt remorse he was different. He could have killed her."
"…but I didn't." Kai stands before them, breathing and sweating heavily like he has been running. Bonnie and Caroline jump to their feet and he holds up his hands, taking a few steps back. "I'm not gonna hurt you."
"Good because I can snap your neck quicker than you can blink," Caroline warns.
"Yeah, better not. If I die so do thousands of others, including my wife," he stares at Bonnie, his eyes red rimmed. Caroline looks at her in shock and she nods. Bonnie glares at Kai, trembling at the sight of him.
"I don't wanna see you. I can't even look at you right now," Bonnie says and he shakes his head, eyes blazing with misery.
"I know what you heard was beyond anything you probably imagined but please let me explain."
"Explain? You travelled from house to house in a single night and killed kids! Your own siblings!"
"When my dad told me that we weren't going to merge I just – I just lost it. I did a locating spell, found them. I thought, if that's even the right word, that if he knew that I was serious about taking them out he would let me and Jo merge. I got to the first house, called him and told him but he just put the phone down," Kai laughs here and then rubs his hand over his mouth. "He didn't give a shit, half of them were siphoners anyway."
Bonnie shakes her head, her shock giving way to rage. "So what? You did it to prove a point? Prove that he was a bad father? He was but he didn't kill kids!"
"He didn't try to save them either! He had every chance but he did nothing. I would have stopped, I wanted to but he didn't give a shit and every time it happened I just got more and more angry. I was out of control. Only when I got back to Portland and threatened Liv and Luke did he make a move."
At first his voice shakes with anger and spite but the longer he talks the more miserable and desperately guilty does he become, until he is crying again. Head in his hands he can hardly stare at Bonnie, who can't seem to look away as much as she wants to. This has to be the first time he has admitted to his greatest crime since the merge and clearly unprepared for how it would affect him.
"This wasn't your dad's fault," she whispers and he nods, biting his lip.
"I know. I told you I was imprisoned because I deserved it. I spent almost twenty years in isolation, I was punished but it's only now I'm free I feel like I should do another eighteen more…is that what you want? I'd do it, I'd do anything for you."
Bonnie, crying, bites the inside of her mouth, arms crossed over her chest as she avoids looking at him. She shrugs, trying to keep herself from falling apart as footsteps sound behind her. They look up to find Stefan and Damon Salvatore coming towards them.
"Bonnie! Just the very witch we were looking for. Is someone throwing a back alley party and didn't invite us?" Damon says and Bonnie quickly wipes her hands over her cheeks but he and Stefan spot the tears and then look at Kai, who is rubbing his own face tiredly.
"Are you okay?" Stefan asks quietly as Damn steps in front of Bonnie and Caroline. He eyes Kai, who he has never met. She nods at Stefan, gripping Caroline's hand.
"It's okay, I'm just upset."
"Did this guy make you cry Bon Bon?" Damon asks, looking at Kai's pale face as he lowers his arms limply to his sides. He sizes Damon up, dismisses him and then looks back at Bonnie.
"We need to talk in private."
"She's not going anywhere with you," Caroline fires back but Bonnie says nothing, still hugging herself protectively. She turns to Stefan, clearing her throat.
"You were looking for me?"
Stefan nods but then looking at the shock and devastation in her gaze he shakes his head. "It's okay."
"No it's not," Damon says over his shoulder. "Elena is in danger from Klaus."
"What?" she blinks dazedly, trying to concentrate. "What do you mean?"
"We think he's taken her," Stefan answers. "We don't know why but he had made it clear he needed her for something."
"Yeah, her blood, every drop of it. So if you could do a locating spell Bonnie that would be great. I'll even sort this guy out for you, what do you say?" Damon says. Kai had been staring lazily at him but at this threat he snorts.
"I'm too numb for this shit. Bonnie, come with me," he offers his hand, ignoring Damon but when he steps a little closer Kai smiles, focusing on his face. "Bonnie mentioned you, called you the annoying brother. You were the nice one," he directs at Stefan, who lifts his brows.
Damon grins. "So you know my favourite witch then?"
"You could say that and right now we don't have time for your little drama. Whatever mess you're in, get yourself out of it."
Bonnie moves forward angrily. "You don't get to make that choice. I want to help."
"Them? They treated you like a vending machine but with no fucking payment. Your grandmother had to almost die for you to wake up and you're gonna go back because this vampire with thinning hair is telling you to?"
"You don't know what you're talking about," she says as he reaches for her arm but Damon moves between them. Kai ignores him.
"I'm repeating what you told me. You stopped feeling like a friend to these people and like a servant. You think they see you any different? Once you made it clear that you were only serving nature did they come round for movie night? Ask what you had been doing? Yeah I didn't think so."
Stefan looks guilty behind Bonnie, Caroline looking at her feet in shame but Damon rolls his eyes.
"Listen up baby Paul Rudd. Bonnie likes to help, she's probably the most insanely selfless witch I've ever come across. Her friend is missing. I have a big map, a hairbrush and judgey here. So let's combine them and poof, the location of one Elena Gilbert."
"I don't care. She does that and you'll drag her in deeper. Now get out of my way," Kai says pleasantly and Damon smiles just as sweetly.
"How about you get out of the damn way before I squeeze your head like a grape?"
Kai gasps. "Wow, what a coincidence," he breathes and before Damon can move Kai lifts his hand and makes a claw. Damon stumbles, hands going to his head as he falls to his knees. Through the pain he looks up at Kai and manages to speak.
"You're a witch?"
"Oh, did I forget to mention? Yeah but I'm not just any witch," Kai says and leans down until their faces are inches apart. "I'm her husband."
"…What?!"
"Yeah, so if you'll excuse us we gotta jet," Kai says and before Bonnie can move or fight he grabs her arm and when she feels the familiar vibration ringing through her body her friends and the Mystic Grill disappear in a blur of colour and sound.