A/N: I tried to break up this chapter, but it refused to comply. And honestly, I want to finish this behemoth. I had a lot of ideas going into this thing, and they are taking shape now. Bamon emerges here in a way that I like. Dear reader, stick with me. The ending is all but written. Enjoy the meantime.

Twine

Bonnie kept to the edge of the park. She hated this part. Creeping. Skulking. Hiding. Since when did she turn into the monster that lived under the bed and in the closet? If she knew monsters existed when the sun shone and the sky was a pale blue and the temperature was a balmy 76 degrees, she wouldn't have been so shocked to find them everywhere.

Elena and Stefan whispered over a potted plant. Even when they were preoccupied with curses and werewolves they were preoccupied with each other. A burning irritated the back of her throat. Bonnie spotted Jeremy hauling mulch. His shirt rode up a little and revealed smooth, hard muscle. Definitely eye candy.

Her eyes followed Jeremy to a section of newly planted garden. Jeremy bent to drop the bag of mulch and Bonnie started. Mason Lockwood leaned on a hoe, sleeves rolled up, directing Jeremy.

"Isn't he dreamy?"

Damon approached from her side. Bonnie folded her arms.

"Mason Lockwood is over there. Why are you over here?"

"I'm surveying the field, fine-tuning my strategy." Damon looked at her. "After I'm done doing the dirty work, we need to play catch-up."

Bonnie nodded. "Over tea and crumpets?"

Damon smiled, his teeth white and the curl of lips pointed. "Coffee and cucumber sandwiches, darling. That stuff is for the English."

The sudden Southern drawl in her ear sent her stomach plunging. Bonnie turned to glance at him but his figure already tripped across the lawn. Do not smile, she willed. Do not smile. Her brain settled on the barest of grins. A few minutes later, he gave the sign and she followed Mason to the back lot. It took less of an effort to subdue him, but the agony and the scream frightened her. She checked his pulse when he collapsed.

Damon jumped down from Mason's Bronco. "You didn't kill him, did you?"

"Not yet," she whispered. Damon nodded towards the passenger seat.

"Let's get out of here before the beast awakens."

Quiet dominated the ride back to the Manor. Dust and pebbles swirled around the truck as Damon parked near the front entrance.

"Wait here," he said. He disappeared into the house. Bonnie rubbed her palms on her thighs. It happened so quickly. A quick smile, an offer of help, and Mason was unconscious in the backseat of his Bronco. She kidnapped someone. A fresh wave of anxiety forced her to breathe slowly. It had to be done. She needed the moonstone.

Bonnie looked at the prostate figure in the backseat. She could get what she needed without anyone getting hurt. The keys were in the ignition. She could send him away, back to Florida. Bonnie lifted her hand to rest on his forehead.

The backdoor opened and Damon pulled and lifted Mason over his shoulder. "Come on. Bring the keys and that bag," he told her. Bonnie snatched them and followed him into the house, down the hall and to the study. Damon already had Mason in a chair. Bonnie noticed the row of pokers nearby, a bottle of discolored water, and the painter's sheet on the floor.

Damon saw the unease before she could mask it.

"Help me with this," he said. They bent down and unfurled the sheet over the carpet. Bonnie caught the look in his eye as they straightened.

"What's with the splatter guard?"

Damon rubbed his hands together. "To guard against splatter." He gestured for her to continue. "I'd like to get this done and out the way in time for dinner."

Bonnie stood before the chair and touched Mason's temples. She sank into his brain, traveled the neural pathways, narrowing down the search terms. She saw glimpses of Florida, and…she frowned. Katherine. Fear and confusion, the moonstone, Tyler, the moonstone again, woods, the moonstone…it shone at a depth, surrounded by stone.

"A sewer?" Damon questioned. She heard chains rattle.

"Not a sewer," Bonnie whispered. "It's in a…well." Bonnie stepped back, eyes open and resting on Damon's face.

Mason reared up. Damon pushed Bonnie aside and gave Mason a blow across the face. He turned, jaw tense. Agitation rolled off him, that and something else. Bonnie edged towards the door.

"I'll let you know if I find it," she said.

"Bonnie," Damon called.

Bonnie paused.

"Coffee and cucumbers."

Her features lightened for a second and then she was gone. Damon dropped his gaze to Mason. He gripped a poker and held it to the flames.

Bonnie rounded a corner and bumped into Caroline. The other girl touched her arm to steady her. Cold swept through her mind and down her back. Bonnie took a quick step back.

"Hey."

Caroline toyed with her fingers. "Hey."

Bonnie fidgeted with the hem of her skirt. It was never this awkward between them. Of course it was never this awkward. They were human then. They had no reason to worry about tomorrow. The small matter of death and vampirism made tomorrow yesterday.

"How are you?" asked Bonnie.

"Okay. Well, as okay as I can be, I guess. Considering."

Bonnie nodded. "Yeah, considering." The conversation veered closer to the cliff. She chewed the inside of her cheek. This was Caroline, her best friend, confidant, and general harasser. They used to practically shadow each other. She missed her friend.

The witch brain battered the sentiment. Witches could never befriend a vampire. They could never trust a thing averse to nature, no matter their past. There were too many rules to contend with, too many actions and emotions to reconcile. She cleared her mind as she exhaled. The location of the moonstone mattered now, screw abstractions. Caroline was a vampire. She could use her help if she could get it.

"Remember when we used to play around that old well?"

Caroline nodded. "Yeah, on the old Lockwood property."

Bonnie took out her phone and sent a text. "I think Mason hid the moonstone there. I'm heading out." She slid the phone in her pocket and looked to Caroline. "Wanna come with?"

Caroline smiled tightly and waved her hand. "Kinda lacking sunscreen. I would ask Damon but he sounds…busy."

Bonnie pointed to the necklace Caroline wore. "I can make you one." Caroline hesitated, but gave it over. Bonnie stood before the windows. The sun shone bright and brilliant. She closed her eyes and weaved a modified sun spell over the jewelry.

"Done," Bonnie said. Caroline took the necklace and put it on, frowning.

"That's it? No wind or flickering lights?"

Bonnie smiled. "No need." She took Caroline's arm and brought her into the sun. They stood together for a second, feeling the warmth on their faces and necks and arms.

"The sun spell is temporary until I find a proper ring."

Caroline touched the cluster of butterflies at her throat. "So I'm not stuck with this forever? Because this was the first thing I grabbed this morning and I'm not that committed to, you know, wearing this with every outfit."

It felt good to roll her eyes. Caroline nudged her. "I'm still the same person, Bonnie."

Bonnie nudged her back. "I know. It's just..." She wasn't the same person. She died. Dead things don't come back the same. But Caroline tried and Bonnie had to try as well. "We're long overdue for a purge. After this moonstone thing you have to bring me back into the loop."

Caroline smiled. "Let me get my coat and we're out." She sped off. Bonnie checked her phone and read the text from Elena. They were on the way to the well. Was Damon coming?

A muffled yell traveled down the hall. No, Bonnie responded, Caroline's coming with.

Caroline insisted on taking her car, so Bonnie rode shotgun to the edge of the old Lockwood property. She trailed behind Caroline as they traveled between the trees. A hoarse yell echoed in the air. Caroline disappeared and the woods suddenly expanded, the sun grew colder. Bonnie quickened her pace. She felt a surge of energy from up ahead. The moonstone was close. The yell rang in her ears. Caroline appeared before her. The yell drowned out her words. She pointed. Stefan and Elena circled the well. Bonnie and Caroline joined them. All four of them peered down into a shimmering darkness. Bonnie saw it gleaming and white beneath the murky water.

A pungent scent struck her. Vervain. She turned to tell Stefan but her side was vacant. The scene unfolded without sound. Elena and Caroline panicked. Elena disappeared into the darkness, Caroline pulled Stefan out of the well, Stefan covered in burns. Bonnie knelt beside him. Another yell, louder, more insistent. She had to make a choice. There was a price, Akiri said. A price to have the moonstone. Bonnie placed her hands on his forehead. Water dripped on her hands. Elena knelt next to her, dripping. She held the moonstone. Bonnie whispered an incantation over Stefan. He stirred beneath her hands. Elena dropped the moonstone to the ground and embraced Stefan. Bonnie stood and carefully retrieved the stone.

It sunk into her palm. Bonnie heard the cry again. A message must be sent. It didn't have to happen, but Mason had to be it.

The moment Damon pierced Mason's heart the moonstone became hers.

They were all upset. Damon remained stolid through the entire interrogation/verbal attack. Justification would only exacerbate their anger, and Damon cornered without a drink increased his hostility tenfold. He faced the fire. The heat was mild and superficial, but it would do.

They stopped talking at him and he stopped listening. In retrospect, he should have sent the dog running back to Florida, but he knew it would only delay the problem. And when the guy looked up at him in those last seconds, he saw himself reflected. It reviled him.

A log snapped. The fire grew as it ate the wood and the air. He struggled with the switch, the damn switch to turn it off. He didn't need to be human, to feel so…consumed by an emotion he couldn't control. The more he struggled, the more convinced he became of something being wrong.

He slammed a fist into the mantelpiece and turned to get a drink. The room was empty except for Bonnie. She stood at the edge of the carpet.

"What do you want?" Damon asked.

"I could have stopped you from killing him," she said. Damon frowned.

"Is this an attempt at commiserating? 'Cause I'm not interested." He walked over to a service tray and fixed a glass of straight whiskey. He felt her eyes on his neck. Her eyes and her silence were an understanding, and it nettled him.

"You know, I'm not interested in whatever you've got bubbling. Stop showing up unannounced. Stop extending olive branches. We don't do that."

"You did what you had to, just as I did."

"What did you have to do? Kill a guy because he had the misfortune of being pathetic and in love with a fucking bitch?"

"I let you kill him. I could have stopped you."

The conviction in her voice made him stop and look at her. She pulled her hair back and he saw the freshness and angularity of her face, the strength in her chin and the tension in her mouth. Her eyes blazed green. Damon forgot the glass and examined her. She didn't look away but inhaled deeply and lowered her head. Steady, he read in her movements. Steady now.

"You could have stopped me."

"Yes."

"Why didn't you?"

"Because I needed to send a message. And I needed the moonstone. The only way to do it was to kill someone close to Katherine. Mason," Bonnie blinked, "it had to be Mason."

Damon stilled. He heard of witches compelling vampires. Very powerful, very old, and virtually insane witches.

"Did you—"

"No," she said.

"Then what the hell are we talking about?"

Bonnie shook her head. "I…" Frustration wrinkled her forehead. "Shit. Forget I said anything."

Damon stood dumbstruck as she left. He noticed the warmth ceased to be superficial. It was in his bones. Some inarticulate fear sent him striding after her.

He flitted from behind to block her passage to her car. They stood in the darkness, the moonlight just beyond them. She didn't move and he didn't speak. Her eyes were too dark too read.

"Why?"

Bonnie searched the gravel. "Do you remember what you told me? The night we, uh, um—"

"—almost went horizontal?" Damon supplied. Bonnie scowled at him.

"You told me we weren't that different."

"I remember. We never talked about that horizontal bit though. In fact, we never talk about anything besides business as usual. Which you assured me you'd remedy."

Bonnie played with her keys. "I just wanted to say thanks. Thank you for helping me."

Damon narrowed his eyes. She backpedaled so deftly it impressed him. "You owe me."

"Sure, the leather jacket. I'll get right on that." Bonnie stepped around him but he was there.

"You owe me answers. Now. And with as little bullshit as possible, please."

She glared at him. "It has nothing to do with Elena, therefore it's none of your business."

"You matter to Elena, therefore it is my business."

"Elena is safe and I'll be fine so accept the thanks and leave it at that."

His response was an irritated grumble. Bonnie stepped back victorious and safe. She practically skipped around him to the driver side. He keenly wanted to tear a rent in whatever cunning plan she had going on. And he loathed the bud of fear at the prospect of her leaving. It verged on trepidation, and if he acted, it would mean he acted outside the 'For Elena' realm. The driver door opened. Fuck it.

"You're important."

Bonnie jerked to a stop.

"To clarify I mean without the Elena clause. We have a thing, Bonnie. Enmity, love/hate, whatever you want to call it, but in the end, we made a deal. Share and share alike."

Damon couldn't gauge her silence. The night hid her too well. Their regular phenomenon of proximity offered zero clues as well. He felt as though he just drank from a grass-fed human, but he felt that way whenever Bonnie was near.

"I want you to meet someone," Bonnie said. The passenger door unlocked. She slipped behind the wheel. Damon smiled and accepted the invitation.

Bonnie used the radio as buffer against conversation. Anticipation clawed at what remained of her stomach. She snuck a glance at Damon. He had his head back, attention elsewhere. Good. Bonnie exhaled. His eyes snapped to hers and Bonnie concentrated on the road.

How she circled back from going to Akiri with the moonstone to going to Akiri with the moonstone with Damon remained a mystery. She had fifteen minutes to unravel it before Akiri turned her ancient eyes on her.

She got the moonstone, returned to the mansion for her car, drove off and got lost. And in getting lost she started thinking. And thinking inevitably led back to the thing between them, that thing Damon mentioned. She began to daydream on the thing. Was it friendship? She pictured them as friends on a particular day. They shot each other short, funny texts, flirted a little, handled a supernatural threat, and concluded the day with bowling. Damon bowling.

"Ha."

She saw Damon move his head and tapped a beat to the current song playing.

Maybe. Maybe the thing was a phase and they'll be back to hating each other in a week or so. She tried to recall the hatred she had towards him but when it was once so clear and well defined, it was now nebulous at best. They had smiled at each other, genuine smiles. They had…kissed. After everything, they kissed. Her cheeks flushed. Once in reality, once in her (his) dream. The dream. The thing existed there, in the steam and the heat and the fluid tension. The thing directed her mouth to his neck and made her stomach and spine and heart evaporate when he dipped his head and kissed her, slow and deep. When they eased apart and she saw his blood-red eyes, she didn't draw back. She drew closer, wanting to erase the barriers…

Bonnie blasted the air conditioning. No more daydreaming. Akiri would know and she had to be cautious. Why was Damon with her? She had to focus on that. Why did she go back?

They arrived at the house without Bonnie noticing. She turned off the engine and it crashed in on her, a wave of massive proportions, pounding her with potential consequences.

"This was Sheila's house," Damon said.

Bonnie only nodded. Damon shot her a leery look. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing," she got out the car, "let's go."

They walked up the lane to the front porch. Bonnie smelled something savory coming from the house. Akiri never cooked.

"Chicken. Coq Au Vin, maybe." Damon said as they climbed the porch steps.

The light clicked on. Damon grinned. "Is this what it feels like to meet the parents for the first time?"

"I wouldn't know," Bonnie replied. She knocked on the door and only looked at Damon when ignoring his stare became impossible.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Then quit looking at me. It's annoying."

"I can't help where my eyes wander. Would it help if I said it's all PG-13?" Damon tapped a temple

Bonnie started to retort when the door opened and Akiri stepped out. She directed a brilliant smile Bonnie never saw to Damon and held out her hand.

"Akiri Beraht. And you are Damon Salvatore."

Damon returned the dazzling smile with one of his own. "A pleasure, I am sure."

"It is, to be sure."

Akiri beckoned them inside. "Come in, come in."

Damon strode in without preamble. Bonnie entered more wary. She sent a questioning gaze to Akiri, who only took her arm and led her to the living room.

"I've never been so readily invited in before," Damon said. He ran his eyes over the volumes on a crowded desk.

"I read your intentions."

"That and a couple thousand spells most likely contributed to your hospitality." Damon picked up a novel and read the spine.

Akiri grinned. "Only one."

Damon swung around to shoot a look at Bonnie. Really? She rubbed her neck and drifted towards the kitchen. The table was set for three. The burnt orange linen was out, along with the crystal wine glasses and the polished silver.

Bonnie prayed for it to be a dream when they sat down to table. She prayed as the steam from the Coq Au Vin wafted her face. She prayed as Akiri sent around the basket of bread. She looked to Damon, who looked at her. Bonnie stopped praying and they broke bread, eyes on each other.

"An old custom of hospitality," Damon said. He focused on Akiri. "Am I correct?"

Akiri inclined her head. "Yes. Not as old as yourself, but you must have been well acquainted with hospitality rules when you were human."

"Very well. I was a well-behaved, decorous young man. And now I'm either homicidal or manic, depending on the day."

Akiri smiled. "Coq Au Vin?"

Damon raised his plate. "Please. I could eat a cow."

"You mean a sorority girl," Bonnie said.

"Dinner before dessert, Kitten."

Bonnie refrained from rolling her eyes too hard. The nicknames. Bonbon, Kitten, Hilda, Baba. They didn't have a playful relationship. They didn't have any kind of relationship. She gripped her fork as Akiri made him a plate of food. What the fuck was happening?

"Excuse me," Bonnie said. Damon stopped pouring the wine.

"Uh, I brought him over here to fill him in and now we're sitting here enjoying dinner?"

Akiri sat back with a sigh. "I thought it would be nice to gain an understanding in a relaxed atmosphere before we…unload onto him."

"This is insane. He doesn't eat food."

"I do. Eating this will probably save that sorority girl." Damon winked at Bonnie. She ignored him.

"I can't do as we planned without help. And he's the only help I…" the words 'need' and want' twisted up her thoughts. Akiri touched her arm.

"I understand, Bonnie. You trust him. Good. We'll explain all after we eat."

Bonnie pursed her lips, effectively silenced. There was nothing to do except eat and get full and worry about Damon's reaction later.

Damon thought the most surreal part of the day occurred when he enjoyed a repast with two witches. Lanterns floated between the trees, illuminating a clearing already brightened by a large bonfire. He stood in the semi-darkness near the trees and watched Akiri and Bonnie cast a silent spell, their arms outstretched as though to embrace the fire.

A gust of wind lifted his hair and then the world stilled. Bonnie opened her eyes first and stepped back from the fire. Damon started. Her shadow stayed fixed to one spot. He moved and saw he did so without his shadow.

Surreal as all hell.

"Neat trick," he said to Bonnie. She came towards him and he felt power in his gut. Fear bloomed in him for the first time since he was invited in. It was now obvious they were dealing with heavy magic, and heavy magic usually meant an offering of some kind.

Bonnie approached. Damon remained relaxed. If he needed to, he could kill her in half a second. Her green eyes shone. The closer she came the more she glowed until she stood before him a flame, hot and flickering. She extended a hand. Instead of snapping her neck, Damon took her hand and was enveloped in a heat so intense it was white.

Disorientation for a vampire was a rare thing. In the times it did happen, it took an enormous amount of concentration to throw off. Damon groped the air aimlessly, trying to center his bearings. His thoughts were scattered and body disconnected. Bonnie, he plucked the name out of the jumbled mess and focused on it. Bonnie. Bonnie. The air was warm and dry. Water dripped, echoing. Earth, pungent earth. The absence of light was so complete he thought his eyes were closed. Damon swung to the left. His hands bounced off hot rock. Underground. A heartbeat muffled the sound of water. Steady. He knew it was she before his name reached him.

A hand grasped his wrist. Damon locked a vice grip on her arm.

"Fucking explain what and when and how and why and where. In that order."

"Akiri decided show is better than tell. You're afraid." Damon heard the grin and squeezed harder. Bonnie only breathed hard.

"I can't see if you're being cute right now. I don't care. I can't see and we're underground in some cavern and you're too calm. So yes, I'm a little uneasy."

Her hand slid from his wrist to hold his hand. "Trust me."

Bonnie had a warm, dry palm, like the air. Her fingers gently squeezed his. Damon released the vice on her arm and closed his hand around hers.

"You need to rethink your trust exercises."

Bonnie pulled him forward and Damon fell in behind her. The intimacy of hand-to-hand contact bothered him. He let go of her hand clasped her wrist. Bonnie said nothing. The ground was rocky and uneven, but Bonnie walked as though it were a well-worn path. He followed as best as his nature allowed, but his mind didn't rest. His senses received and translated every shift of air, every smell, every brush of his foot over the ground. Disorientation hovered at the back of his thoughts.

"You can talk you know," Bonnie said. She led him to the left. Her voice was direct in his ear.

"If I talk, I'm asking questions that better get answered."

"Since when has that ever not been an option?"

Damon snorted. "Whenever that obdurate morality screws up your pretty face. It's past irritating, your morality."

"Now I know what you're like when panicked. Mouthy, jumps at rhetorical questions."

She was laughing at him.

Damon let the silence extend before asking, "Where are we?"

"Short version—we're in Akiri's memory."

"Doing what? Exploring the effect of too much witch's brew?"

"Like I said, showing is better than telling. And besides," Bonnie stopped, "you need a reality check."

The rejoinder died in his throat when light suddenly ate into the darkness. He blinked and they were at the bottom of a valley, standing in tall, waving grass. Trees grew out of either side, the leaves a dappled jade. Breeze he didn't feel shook the branches above him. The trees formed a canopy under which a crude white washed stone circle stood.

As they walked towards the circle, Damon became conscious of figures moving between the slabs. He heard moaning and the lilt of many voices. He stopped Bonnie on the edge of a winding stream of dark water. It separated the grassland from the short grass lawn of the circle. Red clay bodies shook and swayed. Two bodies lay prone before them.

"What is this?" Damon whispered.

"The reason why," Bonnie replied. She crossed the stream and stood within the stone circle. Damon looked behind him. The valley stretched out for miles. Beyond that glittered an expansive surface, possibly the sea. He had zero clue where he was. Oh, that's right, he was in a memory. Fuck. Damon crossed the stream. Bonnie glanced at him then at the scene before them.

The red clay bodies were naked women, old and young, fat and thin, beautiful and hideous. There were nine, swaying and muttering in many languages, eyes closed. Prostrate before them was another naked woman. Lashes broke the caramel skin of her back and the bottoms of her feet were raw and bleeding. A mass of thick amber hair hid the bowed head. It flagged out against the rock like a strike of color.

Damon lifted his eyes to the other figure. His jaw locked. It was a burned and blistered body, horribly mangled. A vampire.

He turned to Bonnie. A placid expression had settled over her face, but Damon saw tension in her eyes. Beads of sweat dotted the edge of her scalp and the bridge of her nose.

The humming cut out and the bodies stilled. The eyes of the red bodied opened. Every gaze seemed to pierce him. The centermost body, a woman of medium height and build, with long clay hair twisted into ropes, stepped forward. Her ageless face looked upon the broken woman.

"We have searched and found no instance of a communion between witch and vampire. It is insupportable. The path always leads to darkness, to death, to nothing."

The broken woman rose to kneel. Damon muted his surprise. Akiri. His gaze flicked to the vampire baking in the sunlight. His gut twisted.

"It is not impossible, Grandmother. A vampire loved a werewolf."

The Grandmother drew up. "Yes, the hybrid. And we have dealt with the consequences of such a monstrosity at great expense. Expense that cannot be paid again."

Akiri bent her head. She twisted her hands into her hair. "The moonstone," she whispered. She stared into the face of the Grandmother. "The moonstone can make it possible."

"It is hidden from us."

"But its power, the power of the Originals. It can be used to," Akiri gulped, "used to transform."

The Grandmother shifted to the nearest red clay body, a squat old woman with eyes light as water. A tacit deliberation began. Damon watched with increased apprehension. The moonstone changed everything.

The Grandmother abruptly turned to Akiri.

"There is a vampire under our gaze, already searching. Assist her and bring the moonstone to us."

Akiri licked her cracked lips. "And in exchange for my cooperation, Grandmother?"

The Grandmother stepped back into the half-moon of witches. "You shall be a daughter to us, and the vampire shall be a vampire no more."

Akiri sank forward, trembling. "Thank you."

"We will keep him until the moonstone is returned. Make your farewell short."

Lightning cracked against the blue sky and the red clay witches vanished. Akiri crawled over to the motionless body. She touched the burnt face.

"Joshua, stay strong for me. Carry my blood with you." She dragged a nail across a wrist. Drops of blood beaded to the surface. She held her wrist to his mouth until his lips were tainted red.

"We are inextricably linked, you and I. Remember. Across time, across realities. We are the same. I cannot be without you."

A singed hand stroked the blanket of red hair. And then the ground before her was empty. Akiri fell forward into the shaft of sunlight, beating the rock with her fists.

Damon turned to Bonnie. "Well. That was—"

Bonnie swayed next to him. He grabbed her arm. Sweat soaked her clothes. Her skin was blanched. It burned his palm through the thin fabric of her shirt. Fever made her eyes glassy and flat.

"I can't hold it. We have to go to the stream. We have to get to the stream. The stream. The cave is too far. The darkness will not cover us, but the water, the water will take it all away," Bonnie rambled. She groped for a hold on his shirt. Damon saw something glimmering at the edge of his vision. It started to eat away the memory.

He swung Bonnie off her feet and sped to the stream. The stream expanded into a green pool. He fell and extinguished like a piece of kindling into a green pool. A scream ripped apart the silence. Damon propelled forward, wading into the cold waters.

He went until the water came up to Bonnie's neck.

"Keep going," she whispered.

"You'll drown."

Bonnie stared into his eyes. The world, memory, reality shrank to the distance of their gaze. The weight of it pulled his head down. They shared her hot breath. He sank with a step. Dark water rushed over them.

Damon woke with the touch of a cold hand. He sprang to his feet. Time slipped from him. Dawn lightened the sky. He took in everything at once: the dead fire, an unconscious Bonnie at his feet, the collapsed and charred trees forming a circle around them, and Akiri. Red hair fell about her shoulder in waves. They locked eyes for a full minute before Damon had a mind to speak.

"How deep in this is she?"

Akiri glanced at Bonnie. "She had to kill the last possessor of the moonstone in order for us to reclaim it."

Damon sighed. He ran a hand over his hair. "I know what you want to do. It's like your Queen Bee suggested. There's no way."

"There is always another path."

"And who's going to pay for it? You?" Damon bent and lifted Bonnie to his chest. The customary warmth suffused his skin. He turned and began walking out of the clearing.

"And you will keep her soothed and safe, Damon?" Akiri cocked her head. "I wondered why she trusted you. I thought it a fanciful crush, one-sided. But the attraction is mutual, I see it now."

Damon paused. "Do you know why vampires like humans so much?" He looked at Akiri. "I'll give you a hint. It's not their personality."

"Their humanity."

Damon smiled. "I'm sure that's what Joshua told you. It was your humanity. Wake up, Akiri. We're everything you aren't and you are what we can never be again."

"Bonnie's involvement ends now. I even think you're pulling strings and I'll kill you." Damon let the threat hang between them before disappearing.

Akiri twisted her lips into a satisfied smile.