Author's Note: Some answers and more questions in this chapter. Hope you like it. Thanks to MissSherrie and Elohcin for prereading and pointing out a few of my bigger errors!

Chapter 14

Elena and Bonnie played doctor to us all that evening. Poor Caroline had actually gotten it the worst, her body attempting to heal a set of broken ribs. I felt horrible that she, along with Stefan and Damon had been hurt because of me. I wished I could help heal them quicker, but there was nothing I could do.

"There has to be some answer to all of this," Stefan sighed across the room as he shifted and took another drink from his glass of blood. "Maybe you were still right, Bekah. Maybe it's not the mating bond, but Damon's actual blood that somehow blocks Elijah?"

I shook my head. "That makes no sense. You would think that would make Damon automatically immune and he certainly wasn't. Not only that, even if it kept him from compelling me, it shouldn't have stopped him from hitting me or grabbing me. I also can't figure out how he couldn't touch me, but Damon could. It's giving me a massive headache just trying to figure it all out."

I lifted my hands to my temples to rub them with my eyes closed. I took in a deep breath and let it out in a deep sigh before moving my hands to the back of my neck and rolling my head to release some of the tension. Damon reached over and removed my hand before rubbing my neck with just the right amount of pressure. I hummed in pleasure and thanked him before opening my eyes to glance around the room again.

Sitting across from me, Stefan was spinning his daywalker ring absentmindedly as he stared into space, and then it clicked. The only thing that had changed since the last time I saw Elijah when he had no problems touching me and using me like a marionette was sitting on my left ring finger. I brought my hand up slowly, frowning down at it and twisting it on my finger, watching the swirling designs in the gold before the diamond came back around to the top of my hand, sparkling in the dim lighting.

"I have a hunch, but I need to check something first. Elena, can I borrow your laptop?" I nodded toward the small Dell sitting on the end table, still open.

"Of course," she said, picking it up and entering the password to bring it back to life before carrying it to me with a confused expression.

Damon shifted closer, looking over my shoulder as I brought up Google and searched for any information I could find about diamond mines, as something was clicking in my brain from my undergrad years. "What ya got there, Bek?"

I smiled before turning to Damon. "It takes very special conditions to find diamond on the surface layers of the planet, and even better conditions to find gemstone quality diamond. There are several gemstone mines in Virginia, Topaz, Amethyst, etc, but Diamonds are only found along kimberlite pipes. The topography of our area of Virginia is in no way suited to produce kimberlite pipes that bring diamond up from deep in the earth where they form, so something else would have had to cause the kind of heat and pressure necessary to leech carbon and force it into the diamond lattice crystals in order to make this."

Damon's eyes widened as he blinked at my ring before looking back up to me. "You mean like the violent mass murder of a large group of witches which supposedly would unleash great power on the site where they were murdered?"

I smiled and nodded as the other people in the room gasped. Damon tossed the computer onto the cushion next to him before lifting my hand to kiss the back of my hand next to the ring. "I am more and more grateful I gave this to you every day. We were actually told that this was the only gemstone they were able to get out of that mine, the rest were used for industrial uses, and Father ordered this to be cut and polished for Mother."

"But how did it know who to and not to let past the barrier?"

I shook my head, staring in bewilderment at the ring. "I think it might depend on my own feelings. I was scared of Elijah, so it protected me, but I wasn't scared of Damon so it let him pass. Then when Elijah was torturing him, I wanted to be able to protect him and then he seemed to stop hurting. Elijah looked surprised, so I think I somehow made it protect him too? Oh Gosh, I don't know. All I have is speculation."

Stefan stood up and walked toward me, shaking his head. "No, you pieced this together when we didn't even think about it. We took it for granted that the diamond mine was here. I never dreamed…So the place we've been looking for has been right here the whole time…just a couple of miles from this house? What are the odds?"

I chuckled, "Considering it's this group, it really doesn't surprise me so much."

Everyone chuckled except Damon who kept brushing his finger across the gold band as he stared down at the ring he had given me. We decided it was safer for Caroline and Bonnie to go home, since Elijah could walk into the mansion anytime he wanted after Damon's little dinner party. The rest of us shuffled off to bed and Damon held onto me tightly as we relaxed into the mattress, his fingers constantly brushing the gold on my finger.

After a long while, I turned toward him with worried eyes. "Are you okay? You're not acting like yourself. Do you need more blood?"

An instant later, I was wrapped in Damon's Boa Constrictor-like arms as he buried his face in my neck. "This just made it even clearer to me that I can't lose you. When you walked into that clearing and faced Elijah I about had a heart attack, then, when he…when I…I can't believe I almost..."

I pushed back from his grip and covered his mouth. "No more about that. It wasn't you. Please stop with that."

He jumped up and flashed over to the window, staring out at the moonlit lawn. I got up and moved to stand behind him, tugging his shoulder to force him to look at me. The pain on his face shattered my heart into a million pieces.

"I CAN'T, Bekah. I almost killed you today. I…You…I can't stand the thought of you having a single injury, and yet I almost broke your neck like it was nothing."

I shook my head, stepping up to cup his cheek. He turned away, making my heart ache. I reached out with my other hand, holding his face between both palms. "I heard you, Damon. You were scared. You were fighting, but Elijah was too strong. It might have been your hands on me, but it wasn't you doing it, so please, stop blaming yourself. I love you, and I don't want to lose you, either physically or even emotionally. I'm okay. I'm fine. Look at me…REALLY look at me. I am standing in front of you without even a bruise, and loving you completely. Please don't let his actions finally break me by losing you to your fears."

His face crumpled, tears falling down his cheeks as he reached out to hold my face. "I wouldn't survive it. I've survived far more than I ever should have, but this, losing what we have, there's no way I'd make it ten minutes."

With a gentle tug down, I pulled his lips to mine, taking him in both body and soul. We stood there and held each other as we kissed and kissed in the moonlight. When our kisses finally slowed, Damon led me slowly to the bed and curled up with me, his arms surrounding me in a protective cocoon as his lips placed light kisses on my head and temples. Eventually we fell asleep between whispered promises and tears.

I walked down the hallway of the mansion and out into the darkness. The grass was cold and wet under my feet as I trod barefoot through the tall grasses. I felt as though someone were trying to pull me back, to keep me from going further, but I was drawn to the place I was going. The tugging eventually stopped, but I could feel the presence following me.

The sun was nearly up when I reached the place that beckoned, a simple, green grassland lined on three sides with trees, a small pond to the left. I moved to the middle and waited. Just as the sun rose, the yellow and red specks of light glinting off the ripples on the surface of the water danced and sparkled before one rose up above the surface, independent of the rest of the twinkling lights. It moved toward me before it grew taller and broader. Eventually it was as tall as a human being, the bottom resting on the ground before me, the top a few inches shorter than me.

The light began to take form before eventually becoming a pretty girl with dainty features who reminded me a lot of Bonnie.

"I am glad you came, Rebekah. The diamond has finally found its champion, but I warn you that you must use it wisely and keep it safe. In the wrong hands, it could spell destruction for you all. Follow your heart and do as it tells you, it shall not lead you wrong."

"Who are you?" I finally asked, my voice weak and tinny in the open space.

"My name was once Emily Bennett. My ancestors and I go with you, to help you, to save you, to protect you as you seek to do what needs done to solidify the curse forever. Take our gift, but I warn you not to squander it. Sacrifice will be necessary, but may come in a form you shall not expect. You need to seek the grimoire of Elias Bennett. It should be in the collection left behind by Jonas Martin. Seek wisdom where you can and keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Katherine is not to be trusted. You must kill her before you shall find peace. Also, take special care of yourself and your blessing. The blessing is the only chance you have of surviving this."

She began to fade as the sun rose to emerge fully from the horizon. I reached toward her, asking her to wait. "Emily, wait. Please. What gift? What blessing? I don't understand. Please, I need more information!"

She shimmered away from sight, but her voice was soft on the breeze. "Seek the grimoire, protect the blessing, fulfill your destiny."

I fell to my knees to find myself kneeling in calf-high green grass which moved gently in the wind creating waves of green all the way down to the small glassy pond. I felt Damon beside me, kneeling and waiting. I turned to him and watched as relief flooded his features.

"Oh thank God! I didn't think you were ever going to wake up! I tried to stop you, but you pushed me off and just kept going. I couldn't stop you, no matter how hard I tried. What the hell just happened?"

I swallowed and shivered as the chill in the air hit my exposed skin. "I just got answers…from Emily Bennett."

Damon's eyes grew wide and his face paled slightly. "What did she tell you?"

"A lot of things I didn't really understand, but one thing was crystal clear. I need to go through the Martin grimoires to find the one belonging to Elias Bennett. The process for solidifying the curse is supposed to be there."

Damon stood up, scooping me into his arms and running back to the house with me. He drew me a hot bath to warm me before helping me dress and carrying me back down to the ground floor despite my protests to search for what I needed. While I was relieved to have a direction, Emily's words haunted me. I still couldn't sort what she meant by my blessing. Was it Damon? He held my heart and he certainly felt like a blessing, but considering what I knew of Damon's past with Emily, I wasn't entirely sure she would feel the same about him. I also wondered what she meant by squandering the gift. There was so much I didn't understand. I just hoped Elias' book would help me sort out the rest of her cryptic message.