Normal disclaimers. Nothing's really mine but the story line, Callie, Ari and a few of the bad guys.
Chapter Seven
"So what's so dangerous about Deacon Frost?"
The small group were gathered in Derek's large dining room, bodies littered all over the place.
Blade held court at the head of the table, leaning back casually in the chair, arms folded across his large chest as he viewed his daughter's motley bunch of friends and family.
They were a young group, bar the Salvatore's, but each one was pretty powerful in their own right. Witches, vampires, werewolves, one lone human and him. A dhampir.
Each one specially connected to Bonnie in some way or another. Each one still way too young to deal with the shit that life seemed to throw their way on a constant basis.
Each one who had seen way too much of the dark side of life, yet somehow they still kept a hold of their sanity.
For Blade it had always been a very thin line that on more than one occasion he had been tempted to step over. That thin line that separated the sane from the insane. And the draw had been powerful. He understood why Frost had flung himself willingly over the edge, because that darkness was enticing.
Day by day, there had been a constant fight for his sanity. A gnawing at his soul as the darkness threatened to overwhelm him. But enter one tiny little witch with a plus size attitude, and Blade suddenly found his grounding. Because she was his daughter. His blood.
And he didn't even need to confirm it. From the first moment he saw her, he knew that she was his kin. His blood. His instincts called out to her and Blade had never felt an intense need to protect anything or anyone in his life so intensely. Never.
And when he touched her, his soul connected with hers. That 'fatherly' instinct he never knew he had, kicked in and he felt like ripping this world apart just to protect her.
Which was why he allowed Derek Hale to live. Because Blade knew that the man would and could rip everyone and anyone apart that would dare threaten his mate.
Besides, Blade actually liked the guy. Him and his no nonsense attitude and fuck you persona was something he could relate to.
"Frost is creating an army to help him once he reaches his La Magra status." He told the three cousins after telling them about Frost's quest for power. Lucy, Callie and Ari. Blade could literally feel their power in the air. Could almost taste it. But each was different. Each had a different taste. Lucy's was like age-old whisky. Tantalizing, and potent. Very much like the woman herself. She stared at you in the eye, never backing down and all with a taunting smirk on her face.
Little Ari's was like smooth honey. Innocent and sweet, she smiled at you like butter wouldn't melt in her mouth, but the power that surrounded her could literally knock you on your ass.
But it was Callie's power that made Blade pause. It was almost undetectable, like she had none but Blade had been in this business a hell of a long time. And even though you couldn't 'feel' her power, Blade knew that this one girl probably was the most powerful out of all of them.
Then there was his daughter. Hers was like a drug. Addicting, powerful, enticing. Almost seductive, which was probably why Frost and latched on to her. His daughter's power simmered beneath the surface, struggling to be free. And with that amount of power, Frost would want it, control it and use it for his own agenda.
"He's selective when it comes to who he turns." Blade continued on without missing a beat. "They have to have special abilities, expert at hand to hand combat, mind bending, illusions. Not just anyone is turned by him. He's creating a super army. An army that in itself is dangerous and loyal to him and him alone. "Blade informed them, his eyes running over each face. "He has the ability that anyone he turns would generate a doppelganger –"
"The fuck you say." Damon snapped.
"The more he bites them the more doppelgangers he creates." Blade carried on, ignoring the ice-eyed vampire.
"Great." Caroline muttered. "If the whole Elena, Katherine thing wasn't bad enough!"
"He controls the way they think," Blade continued. "The way they act. A soldier that won't question him, that has no remorse. Which means he could create an infinite amount of soldiers all with the same ability."
"Clones." Stefan voiced.
"So how do we kill them?" Callie asked jade green eyes on Blade. Blade returned her stare, liking the way she didn't back down. Even from his glare.
"Decapitation. Silver stakes, anything else is ineffective on them."
"But there's no telling how many of these 'soldiers' we're dealing with. And he could create more every time we cut one down." Lucy voiced, bringing a smile to Blade's full lips. Another one he liked. She thought like a veteran.
"We kill the original and the rest die instantly. But he keeps them close to him. They're his inner circle. His special elite of bodyguards. These men have no mind of their own. They are Frosts to command."
"Do we know anything about them?" Mason Lockwood asked, his face questioning.
"I know of three." Reaching into his leather jacket, he pulled out copies of the three photos Whistler had emailed to him.
"Takeshi Kaneko –"he placed a picture of a well built Japanese man on the table, his face cold and unyielding. "– expert at any hand to hand combat you can think of. Jujitsu, karate, wing chun. Can and will kill you with anything he has available." He watched as each person viewed the photo, committing it to memory.
"Jared Simmons, illusionist." He placed the next picture down in front of Derek. "He can make you believe anything he wants. Your deepest fears he finds and hones in on it and magnifies it."
"And finally Freyr Askell –" the picture of the seven foot giant had many of them pausing. He was built like a German tank, almost as wide as he was tall, dark scowl marring his features, light blonde hair, sinister smile.
"You mean to tell me that there are legions of this man walking around?!" Damon demanded waving the photo around.
"Yes."
"Son of a bitch.
"What about Matt?" Stefan asked the group. "There's gotta be Matt doppelgangers running around. How the are we going to tell the difference between them and him"
Matt blinked, staring at Stefan in horror.
"When Bonnie severed the bond between Matt and Deacon, any doppelgangers he may have created would've died." Tyler told him, clapping his blonde friend on the back. Matt shot both him and Bonnie a relieved smile.
Blade stared at Derek, watching as the Alpha's mind sifted through the possible weaknesses each man may have.
"Ari, tell me what you need to determine a weakness for each man." Derek told the youngest cousin, causing Blade's brow to twitch.
Arianna tilted her head as stared at the pictures.
"Anything they have touched. Preferably a personal belonging, but if they have touched it for longer than 5 seconds I should be able to get a read on it."
"Lucy?" Derek asked the other cousin.
Lucy leaned back in her chair.
"It's not gonna be easy. Creating a block against Simmons. I've heard of him before. He's powerful."
"But you can do it." Derek insisted, causing the girl to shrug.
"I can try."
"Callie?" Derek turned to the older cousin. She stared at the pictures contemplating, a small frown marring her brows.
"You've got a room full of supernaturals barring Stiles –"
"Hey!" the boy protested.
"But I can do a ritual with him for protection."
"Training?"
She shrugged.
"We can get on to it this afternoon. These two men –"she said pointing to the photos of Taneski and Fenrir. "– ain't gonna be easy to take down. Especially if we're taking on a full frickin' battalion of them." She paused, shrugging again. "But I'll do what I can do."
"Baby?"
"I can try and create a bond for all of us. So should someone be in trouble we can feel it."
"We may need a link as well, Baby." Derek told her. "The same kind that you and the cousins have."
Bonnie nodded.
"Blade, we need weapons." Derek told the older man.
"They should be here by nightfall. A – friend is sending them to us. Katana's, blades everything in silver."
"What about Mason, Tyler and Derek? Silver is not really a werewolf's friend." Stefan mentioned.
"We no longer have that weakness." Mason told him. "Bonnie – cured us."
Stefan blinked and turned to Bonnie. Just how powerful was she?
"Ok what about this idiot's other men." Mason continued. "You said you knew of three."
Blade shrugged.
"Deacon does have others, but these three are the ones we need to concentrate on. These three are the most dangerous."
"So that's dealing with them," Damon commented, pointing to the photos. "But what about Frost."
"You let me deal with Frost." Blade told him causing the other man to roll his eyes.
"Do you even know where to find him?" Damon asked flippantly, trying to ignore the touchy feely couple across from him. Dammit, Scrappy needed to leave the witch alone!
"Vegas." Blade said promptly.
"How do you know?"
"Because that's where your doppelganger was last seen. And because she is the bait, that is where he will be waiting for us." Blade told him. "He will be waiting for us to come to him."
"Well we shouldn't disappoint now should we?" Lucy smirked her and Callie sharing a smile.
Blade showed his teeth watching as Bonnie rolled her eyes at her two cousins.
"No unnecessary trouble you two." She warned them, pointing a finger in their direction.
Lucy laughed, flashing Callie a smirk.
"You do know that we are Bennetts, right cousin? Trouble is in our blood."