CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
"Is it me or is this damn good?" Matt muttered, tucking into his plate of filet mignon with single-minded focus.
The three-course seated dinner was under way, and after her farmers market salad and chilled gazpacho, Bonnie had given up trying to enjoy her food. Not that it wasn't good-everything looked finely prepped and presentation was clearly upscale-like everything else about this wedding. But it all tasted like sawdust in her mouth.
Caroline sighed, staring down at her own entree, the same as Bonnie's-herb roasted chicken with red bliss potatoes. Her vampire taste buds could still appreciate the meal, although Bonnie was well aware that it couldn't possibly compete with a gushing artery. "No, it's delicious," her friend said moodily. "We might as well enjoy our last supper."
Bonnie put down her fork. Misery loved company, and Caroline seemed determined to invite everyone to party hearty with her just then.
The three of them were up to speed on everything. Caroline and Matt on Noah spying, Mickey and the housekeeper, and the homing beacon to root out whoever had Bonnie's blood. And she, on Rachel having the stone-what? And why would she do that to her own sister?-were Bonnie's first reactions, before she remembered that, oh, yes, coven came first before family, with these people.
And now Tariq needed her help, her Bennett-ness, really, to finish something that her grandmother had started years ago.
That one, she was waiting for further progress. Unfortunately hampered, just then, by the reception schedule. The old man's focus had turned to her briefly, once Caroline and Matt finished their story. As if he knew the moment Bonnie decided, with little hesitation, to throw in with him. One hundred percent, she was on board with his plan. Although it would help to know the details.
And also, she had to tell Kai. That was the one caveat. There was no way she could do this behind his back, no matter what Tariq said. Especially now, with Joshua's latest announcement.
Kai and Alanis, engaged.
Silly that it robbed her of mental clarity, even the ability to fill and empty her lungs in a normal rhythm. Why was it that whenever she held something approximating happiness in her hands, and she let herself get to the point that she trusted it was hers to keep, her grip on it either became clumsy, and she lost that little bit of joy she held-or she gripped too tightly, and it broke?
Please join me in celebrating the betrothal of my son, Malachai Parker...
For a few seconds there, the words had reverberated in her head like an echo she didn't want, until they lost all meaning. Semantic satiation, wasn't that the term? 'Hear something enough and suddenly it stops making sense,' her Grams had always liked to say, which always struck Bonnie as funny for a woman who liked to nag.
Well, that was precisely what happened, after Joshua's big reveal. Bonnie had only been able to stare up at the podium and his beaming face and wonder why everyone was clapping. She'd seen Kai and the small smile he suddenly flashed, when he looked at his father, and then Alanis.
Then comprehension returned, rushing over her like a monsoon, just in time to witness Kai standing. In a moment of weakness, she'd nursed a hope that he would reject it. Not a word had been uttered by him before, about any kind of betrothal-Kai wouldn't let this happen to him. When he'd looked at Bonnie briefly, the hope had come alive, giving her the spirit to throw Joshua a death glare. But then Kai had killed it, because he'd stood, and his movements didn't hesitate-not once, not even a tiny bit-as he'd allowed Alanis to take his elbow and escorted the lovely coven witch to the podium. Even smiling at her, as his father gave them both enthusiastic handshakes. When father and son had walked out of the room together, Joshua looked pleased as punch, and Kai-well, he didn't much look like he was leading his father out to fight with him. Maybe this was one of the things that fell under Joshua's jurisdiction, and Kai didn't see much point in contesting it?
What a lucky thing for Joshua Parker that Bonnie had developed the habit of channeling a statue in her worst moments. Not only did that help her maintain the illusion of neutrality, but it kept her magic from doing bad things like causing someone she hated to spontaneously combust into a puddle of tar.
She hadn't decided yet if she wanted to do the same to his eldest son.
But it was nonsense, because she'd only met him yesterday. And this was coven politics. Even if Joshua was the one who put everything into motion, there were factors probably involved, which Bonnie knew nothing about for sure, but it all pointed to some kind of long-standing agreement between the two families. If she thought about it, arranged marriages fit the Gemini way of life. The pieces of the puzzle fell into place-Kai and all his casual connections with women, Fiona's desperate attempts to get his attention and her final gamble to run away with him, Alanis and her coy yet confident ease with him and the rest of the Parkers.
Joshua returned alone, spurring hope once again. Maybe the two had fought, after all.
If he had prior knowledge, Kai was wrong not to mention it before to her. But then if he had, things between would never have progressed this far. How could she have let it? Stealing other women's men wasn't her thing, no matter how much the man in question put himself out there to be stolen, repeatedly, by a series of women. In closets and who knew what other tight spaces.
Get a damn grip, Bonnie.
But she held no regrets over anything they had shared this weekend, including the sex. On her part, everything had come from a genuine place. And while he probably couldn't claim the same, not with this unveiled betrothal, then she was mature enough to cut him slack. His coven world boxed him in far too much, and in his shoes, she probably wouldn't even have had the patience to tolerate the bullshit like he obviously had for years now. She would've walked away a long time ago.
His way of dealing was just different. When the weekend rolled along, leading their paths to cross-naturally, he was more than ready to be distracted, swept up in the mystery that outsiders brought. And using her as his outlet, except they both had just been caught unaware of how strong their attraction was. And then, of course, there went Maggie Durant complicating things by pointing out an abnormal connection.
From that objective point of view, Bonnie found herself relating to him. It helped her avoid hating him and what he'd done. In lust with him, that's where she was. If she'd been a little softer in the head, she might have been halfway in love-thank God for having a head full of rocks, as he'd pointed out. Lust she could handle, and ignore.
No wonder he was so persistent with Bonnie about cementing something between them. She had offered partnership, when what he had in mind was basically-a mistress? Like one of those old fashioned continuous affairs from way back, when the terms 'kept woman' was still thrown around. That would be Bonnie, if he had his way.
While it hurt, she had no intention of withdrawing her offer to remain part of his life as an equal-not if cutting ties with him meant their futures meandering too close to tragedy, like in those other worlds.
But not as his kept woman. Screw that. They would find a way to avoid being intimate while they remained partners. They had to, it was their only chance. And she wasn't going to be dramatic, he would be pleasantly surprised with that, she guessed.
Long minutes dragged, where their little table ate in communal gloom.
"This wedding sucks," Matt suddenly said.
Bonnie burst out into laughter, long and hearty, enough that it drew a few smiles from nearby. She even caught Noah Vansel, several rows up, studying her. Which instantly caused her smile to die, when she remembered that the guy was another of their unwelcome shadows.
Caroline followed her stare. "So what're we going to do with that one?" she asked. "You want me to rough him up and get answers that way? I'm so ready for that."
Noah hadn't looked away, and Bonnie now returned the appraising glance with a small frown. "No," she said, finally breaking eye contact. "I'll talk to him first."
"Not a good idea," Matt said.
"Maybe he's with Tariq," she pointed out.
"Or with Mickey."
She shrugged. "I'll find out."
"Okay," Caroline said, with a small, exasperated chuckle. "Look, hon, there's coping, and then there's lashing out. Take it from me. Going on your own to confront someone who might be a threat to us is definitely not coping."
"Isn't it time for us to try the direct route?" Bonnie argued. "Don't you guys wish it was all over with already? I just want us on that flight. I'm so homesick at this point, seeing Damon's face will make me feel better."
"Haha," Caroline said, her entire manner suddenly forced. "Good one."
Bonnie eyed them with suspicious eyes, catching the look that passed between her friends, but was suddenly distracted when she spied Luke at the dais, surreptitiously moving his hand towards Rachel's small purse.
Her eyes widened. Nobody else had caught it, she was sure. Too deft, and barely noticeable, but her glance had happened to be right on Caroline, and directly over her shoulder was Luke's seat in the distance. What had he just done?
They were nearly finishing their meal when Kai returned. The glance he threw to her side of the room was cursory, and his magic was quiet. His entire air seemed subdued, the first that Bonnie had seen. Something had clearly happened, and if Joshua was responsible, she wanted to rage even harder.
"Bonnie," Matt said, glancing nervously down at her arms. She looked also, and saw that tiny wisps of steam was rising slowly out from her skin. Taking a calming breath, she focused on her plate, taking a bite of her cold entree.
Kai's gaze found hers, and she read his discomfort and impatience, as his family chatted with him, Alanis casually drifting over to join at a certain point. Even then, he sought Bonnie's table out, and she made sure to give him reassurance that she wasn't angry. Why, she couldn't say, except she remembered how little he had cared about turning Fiona and Alanis both out of the closet, even sending Alanis away upset, thinking he'd had sex with Fiona.
But he obviously cared what Bonnie seemed to think about this latest announcement, which made everything worse. He was willing to overlook her living outside of standard witch conventions, and all her vampire and werewolf friends. Was this where he expected her to turn a blind eye? His coven's traditions, including an arranged marriage...a wife?
He really didn't know her.
It stung, more than she expected, but they had too many real problems here, for her to be trite. Miffed, maybe, would be what she showed him. She had dignity to maintain here. If the woman had been Fiona, Bonnie would have been compelled to put up a fight-nothing good could come of that match. That viper would just drive him back into sociopathy. But Alanis was different. Even if Joshua was responsible for the match, there was a good chance Kai could find peace and happiness there. Once his father was out of the way. After tonight.
Alanis was not Fiona, was practically coven royalty the way Joshua went on, and had no association with vampires or werewolves. Check, check, and check.
The sound of melodious laughter drifted over from the dais, and she found Alanis, smiling brilliantly with her hand on Kai's forearm, as his siblings and several elders spoke with the newly-betrothed couple.
Bonnie looked down at her plate, her magic surging to her eyes, and she squeezed the table, hard, her knuckles turning white.
"Bon?" Matt asked softly.
"Yeah?" she said, looking up with a smile, but confused because his face was blurry, and so was Caroline's.
Wait, that hadn't been magic stinging her damn eyes. She couldn't possibly be getting teary-eyed now. How stupid of her.
"Oh, Bonnie," Caroline whispered, then looked around, her face murderous. "We should just go. All of us. Right now."
Matt frowned. "Tyler-"
"Him, too. Liv can catch up to us later."
"Don't be silly," Bonnie said.
Matt's phone buzzed then. "Oh boy." He glanced around. "Kai. Meeting. His suite."
Bonnie's heart jumped. Oh, so he did have a plan? She glanced over, saw his smiling face directed to his fiancée. And she knew she just was not that strong. No way could she see him right now. "Go on without me," she urged them. "I know what he's gonna tell you, and you already filled me in. Anything else, you'll let me know when you get back, right?"
She watched Kai, Tyler, and Liv make their exit, and then her pulse spiked irrationally when Kai slowed, passing Tariq's table. The elder still appeared unruffled to her, but Kai was much better acquainted with the guy, and if he sensed anything, it would be a problem. She debated going to his room with the others, after all. But then Kai resumed his pace, and she sighed in relief.
After a few minutes, Caroline and Matt also left discreetly. Catching Luke's gaze across the room, she gave a small smile, tipping her glass to him subtly. So they were both the odd men out, or maybe, choosing to think positively, they were the ones the others trusted to handle things here? Yes, that sounded good.
But not quite. It made her feel like dependable old furniture. Bonnie Bennett, at everyone's service. Leaving nobody hanging, while always, in contrast, left to herself. She munched half-heartedly on her plate of food for several minutes, before deciding that the room was too warm. Where were those columns again? She needed a hard surface to bang her head on the wall and kill her self-pity.
She needed air. And also, Luke's company, because his magic had been subtle earlier, but he'd definitely been up to something. She sent him a text, before standing and making her way out of the room.
Through the French doors behind their table, she stepped into a private garden, with a walkway leading to a gazebo in the distance that overlooked a large pond beyond. There in the far end of the gazebo, she sat on the stone seat, peering over the wall overlooking a pond bordered by irises and cattails.
"Hey, sweetie," called Luke, a few minutes later, walking up.
"Hey, sneaky," she replied, smiling.
But his reply to that wasn't gloating or being cheeky. Instead, he offered furrowed brows and a downturned mouth. "Nope, I got nothing. Sorry."
Of course, because things were going their way far too much. Not.
"I figured I could summon the stone, but it's gone. Rachel must have put it away. Dumb place to hide it, anyway."
"That's what Matt was thinking," Bonnie said. "He smells a set up."
"Liv, too. And Kai will, I bet."
"What about you? Rachel's your sister."
Luke put his hands in his pockets. "I don't know, Bonnie. She's-bossy, you know? But not bad. I can't see it."
She nodded.
"Then again, Kai says I'm a little gullible."
What a bold-faced lie, and Bonnie turned to the man speculatively, wondering why he kept bringing up his brother's name. She said nothing, as Luke took a seat beside her, and they both stared out at the pond.
"My family and the coven," he began. "We're not the easiest people to deal with, Bonnie. It was worse a couple years ago."
She could only imagine.
"I'm not saying my brother came and played Mary Poppins and whipped us all into shape."
She smiled at the image of Kai hanging on to a flying umbrella.
"But he tried. He's not so bad, either. Things have gotten better since he showed his face again."
Luke leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, so eerily similar to Kai that she abruptly saw the family resemblance then, not necessarily in their features, but in the way they carried themselves. Cool and detached, fielding hits without much breaking into a sweat.
"Thing is, not a lot has gone his way. Especially when he was younger. Makes him a wee bit difficult." Luke laughed softly, started tapping his fingers against each other, as he continued. "I was really young when he first left, but he was a pretty scary nut. That, I remember. He came back, still a little nutty, honestly. But this time, the scary's more for show."
That sounded accurate.
"He's capable of great things, Bonnie. Has done some of them already. All without anyone by his side. My brother's not the type to need a social butterfly with a pretty face and nice manners to show him the right way to do things. He learned all that already, when he went away."
Her entire body clenched then, her breath stalling, waiting for the rest.
"I kind of think it's more his personality that's the problem. 'Cause he's really annoying. The woman he ends up with needs to be wonky herself to put up with it. Wonky...and powerful, to keep his ass in line. Also someone with a lot of heart. Not saying he doesn't have one, but he's like the Grinch, you know? There's room to grow there."
When he looked at Bonnie, it was with eyes as clear as a summer sky, warming her with the same pleasant reassurance. "Alanis? She isn't the woman, Bonnie. Just so you know."
His words sparked buoyancy all over her chest, that blossomed until her entire body seemed like it could float up in a nice and puffy plume of smoke, and dissipate happily into the sky.
Luke laughed. "You really got it bad."
Clearing her throat, she waved his last comment away. "No idea what you mean. But while you're here, I need to brief you."
His brow quirked, another Kai-like trait that just then, comforted her. As she updated him on everything, she found herself reassured by his nods and intelligent questions. He even sensed her gnawing worry growing, and offered suggestions on the problem Tariq presented. So far, that was her biggest issue.
"I'll help distract Kai," he said with a smile, waving a hand towards the reception. "Since there's not enough out there to keep him busy, right?"
She tried to return it, but it stumbled and turned into a grimace.
"Bonnie, you don't have to do this. We-"
"I need to," she said, with quiet conviction. "Sneaking Tyler into the coven-I don't regret helping him. But this will tip the scales even between your coven and me and my friends."
And most importantly, Kai would finally be free of his toxic father. But she withheld that from Luke, unnerved because he clearly could read most of her feelings about his brother. Why arm him with more ammunition?
When he left, she spent some more time trying to work through her plans. Next, she would need to find Noah, the thought making her want to seek out a glass of wine for fortification. Whatever he knew, was probably going to be a doozy. Hopefully he wouldn't put up much of a fight sharing it. But she would give him one, if he did.
"Well," came the cool, refined voice. "You again."
Whirling her head, Bonnie saw Fiona, her tall, slinky form approaching the gazebo.
Bonnie said nothing, eyeing her guardedly because the other witch's aura wavered erratically, at times aggressive, as she stepped inside the small space.
"Betsy?"
"Bonnie."
"Whatever." The blonde peered down her nose, sapphire eyes no longer so glittery, but now faded, lacking luster. Bonnie almost felt sorry for her. "I know you're hiding secrets about your friend."
She laughed-hard not to. So precisely the right thing to be hearing just then, especially from Fiona. Because Bonnie really felt like lashing out. And wow, the woman had no idea that she had just picked the wrong time to bring it up.
"What're you talking about?" Bonnie asked, acting dumb.
"See, I think we can help each other out here." Fiona gave a sudden bright smile. "I promise not to hurt you, if you spill what it is that Liv's new hubby is hiding. I know it's something huge."
"Why are you so convinced? What's it matter to you?"
"Certain things never added up about him," Fiona said. "If I was the one to find out, I can go to certain people with the information and maybe-" the woman's face turned hopeful, for the briefest moments, "the night won't be such a total wash out."
"What're you talking about?" Bonnie asked, pouring confusion into her tone, knowing Fiona still thought she wasn't all there. Even as suspicious as the other witch was, that superiority she wore like a much-loved fashion accessory remained Bonnie's biggest help. It meant she could keep trying to get the woman to talk, without much effort, or revealing herself.
Fiona would seek her out. She had no memory of trying this same tactic last night with Bonnie, thanks to Kai's spell that wiped her memory clean of the event. Bonnie was just glad Fiona was alone, unlike the first time. Her minions must have deserted her, now that she was no longer in contention for the seat beside Kai.
"Oh, that's right, you have no idea," Fiona's glacially perfect tone dripped with sarcasm. "See, Betty, that guy who was nice enough to stay and help you and your friends look for that stupid earring earlier? He's kind of VIP in a few circles. Namely, mine. You're going to help me make sure that I gain a VIP slot right beside him." Her face hardened then. "Not some Disney princess wanna-be."
Apt, that description of Alanis. That was how pretty much how perfect she came across. Did that make Fiona-what, Maleficent? She peered up at the woman, remembering the closet. She was only a few years younger than Kai, but her face was youthful. They could've been the same age.
The blonde sat down, then patted the chair next to her. "Now, c'mere. We'll have a cozy little chat and you tell me all about your childhood buddy."
She said it so pleasantly, kindly even, and was so damn beautiful that Bonnie could see how she stayed relevant in this coven. And God, she really, really just wanted to wipe that arrogant smile off this woman's face. Would it be wrong if she caved and did that, just a little? Fiona was hurting. In her own way, she probably did care about Kai, a little. The way poisonous creatures did, of things they wanted to inject with their toxins and swallow whole.
"Get over here," and now Fiona sounded waspish, probably her real tone of voice that she used when not in public. "Before I knock your head around and you lose what little brains nature gave you."
The back of Bonnie's hand went to her mouth, hiding a grin. Oh, yes. She was going to slap this witch. Someone had to.
"Fiona," she said, chortling because she couldn't help herself. "You have no idea how badly you need to get out of my face right now."
"Excuse me?" Fiona said, stalking angrily towards her, using her height to tower over Bonnie.
She held her stomach, trying to control her mirth. And anger. "Did I stutter?" she asked, standing, tilting her head back to meet the woman's incensed glare. "Get the hell out of my face." Then she smiled. "Bitch."
Fiona gasped, her nostrils flaring with scorn. The other witch's aura poked out, arcing towards Bonnie.
Bonnie tilted her head, thwacking aside the thin slivers with her own powers. Fiona gasped, then her hand went up to slap her, but Bonnie caught it, blocking impact, and then drew her own fist back and punched the woman in the face.
Muffling a groan when her knuckles made contact with a long, hard nose, the bones in her hand ringing with pain.
Fiona screamed, stumbling back, grabbing her face. "Arrrrh!"
Bonnie stood shaking her fist. "Ouch," she mumbled, and then unleashed the grin she had been repressing. Holy crap, that stung but also-felt wonderful.
"You idiot!" came the shriek. "You broke my nose."
Bonnie shrugged. "So fix it. You're a damn witch. Help yourself."
"Oh." Fiona blinked in surprise, still holding her nose. "How do you know..." Then her face clouded with hostile mistrust. "Who the hell are you?"
Bonnie tossed her a disdainful glance. "I'm the person who's been onto you," she said. "And I'm only asking once, Fiona. So think carefully how you answer." She walked slowly to the other woman, squinting. A bone crunched, and Fiona cried out. "What do you know?"
The other witch lifted her hand to counter, but Bonnie had had a taste of her type of attacks the night before. As soon as her insides and her skin began burning, she countered with a vertigo spell that had Fiona stumbling to the floor, her eyes lolling around. "Stop," Fiona said, clutching her head and trying not to retch.
"Are you sure?" Bonnie said. "I could do this all night," she said, repeating the words the woman had thrown at her last night, during the paintball fight in the hedge maze, when Fiona and her lackeys had ambushed her.
"All I know," Fiona gasped out. "Is that I was supposed to be the one to get engaged."
Bonnie shuddered, thankful that part of the plan had changed. But she was getting answers, at least, so she let up on her attack. "To Kai? What's that about? Your coven parents set up marriage pacts when you were all in diapers?"
"Not always. But for those in positions of power, it's normal."
"What about Tyler? Why are you targeting him?"
The other woman lay on the ground, weak and sick to her stomach from the effects of Bonnie's spell. She still managed a glare at Bonnie, though, and that baleful challenging gleam in her eyes put Bonnie in mind of another woman that Bonnie occasionally loathed, sometimes pitied, and always without fail wanted to inflict physical damage to. Katherine Pierce. Except Katherine would've probably already ripped out Fiona's jugular by now, after getting her answers. That, or made some kind of trade-off, to have the other woman's powers end up in service to her.
"Whoever you are, clearly you have no idea how to be a proper witch. When an outsider rejects the covenant oath, that raises red flags. Those of us who put our coven first, saw Tyler doing that as a threat. He's obviously hiding something." She smiled hatefully. "It's just a matter of time before everyone finds out what."
Bonnie made a tiny gesture with her finger, and Fiona began choking, gasping for breath. "The way you say that tells me you know a lot more." She leaned in, her voice soft and sweet. "You're right, I'm not a proper witch wearing fancy little coven tiaras. But I know some handy spells."
Fiona shied away, and Bonnie couldn't help it, the way her magic purred under her skin, Expression powers answering the siren call of barely leashed fury, all of it contained inside her and coaxing her to bathe the world in fire, ice, and blood. "I can peel your brain like an onion, and have you reciting your worst nightmares, your secret hopes, your social, and the password to your online accounts." Bonnie angled a brow questioningly. "I'll let you choose."
"W-What do you want?"
"Names." She was sick of all of the waiting. It was time to bring the fight to the assholes looking to hurt her friends and Kai.
Clap clap clap.
Both women turned at the sound, finding Joshua Parker standing there, grinning at the scene.
He held a hand to his chest. "Bravo, Miss Bennett."
Bonnie immediately shot up, backing away, as she eyed him moving forward, then turned to Fiona, who was looking relieved as she tried to stand.
"Joshua," Fiona said. "This woman attacked me."
And wasn't that rich? "You provoked me," Bonnie muttered. "Do it again, both of you." She was really itching to hurt people. Why not start with these two? "See how much crankier I can get."
Joshua's face took on a look of caution. "Miss Bennett, I'm not your enemy," he said, his tone wary, hands up in the universal gesture that meant good will, but coming from him, was really meaningless.
"Joshua!" cried Fiona. "She attacked a member of the coven! She's a witch, hiding from us!"
"Settle down, Fiona."
The older man spun to her, glaring but saying nothing. Fiona suddenly quieted, but not for lack of trying. Her mouth continued moving, but no sound came out. Joshua shook his head in exasperation, as he turned back to Bonnie.
"You know who I am," she said evenly. Then she waved a hand behind her absent-mindedly, and Fiona suddenly dropped off to sleep.
"Sheila's granddaughter," Joshua said, smiling now.
"What do you want from me?"
Joshua perched carefully along the wall of the gazebo, his face benign as he studied her. "Merely your time," he finally said. "I'm disappointed that you haven't revealed yourself to me or the council. Your grandmother and I were the allies in the past."
The words turned her stomach, and she fought to keep revulsion from her face. Instead she glanced around, noting how in their solitude, it would be an easy thing to let her magic out and take care of Joshua Parker for good.
"Now I wonder," said Joshua. "How much your grandmother taught you about the mystical community? Clearly, not enough."
What was it with covens and their lack of a filter when it came to passing judgment on her upbringing? She had to work on her facial expressions, maybe they were too open and inviting. When she got back home, she'd ask Damon for some pointers on how to look appropriately off-putting. He seemed to have that one down pat.
"For instance, most covens don't take kindly to subterfuge. We like to do it ourselves, naturally. But being on the receiving end?" He shook his head. "We also take great precautions, coven leaders especially. We wear target signs on our backs. It's only natural we turn a little paranoid. Go a little extreme with our methods of self-preservation."
His smile remained kind, while she raised a questioning brow.
"Resurrection masks," he said. "Have you heard of those? Handy things."
This time there was no hiding her frown. They were handy, and hard to come by.
"I would be a very difficult man to kill, Miss Bennett. If someone were to come along and wish harm on me, they would only be inviting grief on themselves."
Now it fell into place, the reason why Kai allowed his father to continue his role in the coven. He must have found out early on during his return to the coven about this particular contingency of his father's. Joshua probably held it over his head. Bonnie let out a tiny exhale, trying to relieve that sense of suffocation growing in her chest.
"Now I know you'd never be that person," he said. "Such incivility, from Sheila Bennett's granddaughter?"
"You'd be surprised," she muttered. "My mom wasn't around to teach me better manners."
"So I heard. Poor Abigail. Never quite lived up to her mother's shadow, did she? Your grandmother was an Envoy when she was your age, did you know?" His reminiscing seemed to please him, because he nodded approvingly. "Adept at it, too."
Bonnie waited, not willing to fill in any gaps in the conversation. Why arm this loathsome toad with ammunition. He wasn't telling her anything about her grandmother she didn't already know.
"She was also instrumental in helping my eldest son," he continued. "Without her, who knows where Malachai might be? History of instability, that one."
Now that, she was totally ignorant about, despite her best efforts to get Kai to disclose.
Joshua's expression of fatherly concern was so sincere just then, Bonnie found herself tipping her head in mock sympathy. She recalled her own father, giving this same look back when she'd been under Shane's thumb, giving her a lecture about staying out of the professor's influence. Difference was, Rudy Hopkins hadn't put on an act. She'd really given her father reasons to need higher doses of his blood pressure meds. He'd cared enough to worry.
No matter how he tried to appear, no actual feeling seemed to emanate from the man before her now; he could look as sad as he wanted but cold-blooded was what she picked up on.
"Lucky thing Kai's got such a caring father looking out for him," she murmured now.
"Yes," Joshua nodded, his black eyes alight with pride. "I like to think I've done right by him and the coven."
The sheer insanity of what came out of his mouth-did he really believe it? That had to be what gave him such an air of authenticity. The road to hell was paved with good intentions, was how it went. She could easily see how Joshua Parker managed to look at himself in the mirror day after day. He'd convinced himself he was doing what was best for the well-being of the many, by hurting the few. Megalomaniacs always tripped up this same way.
"When he was younger, we were all worried Malachai would murder us in our beds."
She blinked. "What?"
"Then we got advanced warning that he would do just that." Joshua shifted, clasping his hands solemnly together, as he faced her. "Magic. Such a wonderful thing, and lack of having it was Malachai's downfall. Or so we were told."
Bonnie was barely breathing now.
"He was on the verge of snapping, set to slaughter half the family with his bare hands, and later come back and destroy our entire coven." Joshua's disturbed gaze found hers. "Your grandmother was brought in, when it came to her attention that he would eventually also do harm to her loved ones. You. Your friends."
No, no, no. He was a liar, pathological and profoundly good at it. Bonnie's hands twitched, fighting a chill and the urge to lash out with her magic as it tried to surge out from her bones.
"I see you're having difficulty believing. But there's a journal somewhere. All the observers keep some type of record. Sheila got a hold of one. Then she came and offered her magic up. Used combination therapies you would find in today's mental health clinics. When those methods failed, she worked with Malachai's grandfather to rehab him for quite a bit of time." Joshua sighed deeply, sounding exhausted. "It was a long road, Miss Bennett. But quite effective. As you see."
He eyed Fiona. "That one's been desperate to secure a position beside Malachai. Unfortunately, her temperament isn't suited to someone like him. He needs-a gentle touch." His brows raised at the last bit. "Alanis is a suitable match. She can tame those parts of him that are unhinged, and fits perfectly into his life. Together, the Geminis would go far under their leadership."
When he stood, his nose was held high, and he looked down at her with an austere graveness that Bonnie remembered seeing on Kai, back when they were in his family's home, and he'd warned her not to attempt the spell to lift Tyler's curse. Ruthless. Cunning. In select ways, the apple didn't fall far from the tree.
"Out of respect for your dearly departed grandmother, Miss Bennett," he said, in tones of haughtiness. "You get one warning. If you have any concern for the well-being of your friends, and yourself? Keep away from my son. We Geminis have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to certain things. If I were you, I wouldn't keep pushing your luck tonight." Then out of nowhere, he gave another of his fatherly smiles. "If all ends well, down the line, we can return to some semblance of an alliance. Your grandmother would have wanted that."
Then he walked off, but not before adding, over his shoulder, "That all depends, if you're willing to shed old friends, to make room for new ones."
Bonnie waited until he completely disappeared from view, before she shot up out of her seat to pace, concentrating on keeping her powers at bay, threads of it poking like needles under the surface of her skin, trying to get through and puncture into anything within her reach, but especially, it wanted to reach out and grab a hold of Joshua and fill him with holes, to bleed him dry of both his blood and his essence. The yawning need overcame her momentarily, and she watched tendrils of her magic arc out before she gasped, clenched her fists, and tucked them back inside.
"Oh, God," she choked out.
Joshua was a piece of shit, manipulative and beyond evil, but not transparent in any way because she couldn't figure out why, despite all of her instincts, his final message seemed to be of protecting Kai. From her? The bastard had pushed all the right buttons. But could she push back?
There was only one way.
Stalking inside the reception hall, relieved that Kai and her friends had yet to return and that Luke seemed to be on top of things, she found Noah Vansel.
"We need to talk."
His blue eyes registered no surprise, only relief, and within moments, they found themselves back outside, and she let him guide her, through a familiar path. Presently, they arrived back at the redwood circle where the ceremony had taken place earlier. Under the cover of darkness, what had been a fairytale setting now turned ominous, the empty clearing shaded in massive branches overhead that plunged the area in total darkness. Noah muttered quickly, flames dancing from the tips of his fingers their only source of light.
Tariq waited there, on the platform between the massive stone twins.
"Bonnie Bennett," said the old man gravely, light from Noah's flames chasing shadows on his face. "I knew-"
"My grandmother," she cut him off, rudely. "Yeah, sing me another one. What do you need me to do exactly, and will it get rid of Joshua for good?"
Noah bit into his mouth, his brows rising, but she glared at him, and he schooled his features into complete calm.
Tariq nodded slowly. "Anger helps. Focus it." He tilted his head in the smallest of moves, and Noah stepped forward then.
He fished inside his jacket, and pulled out a metallic object, and he cut his eyes around, the flames growing larger overhead, casting the device he held up into better focus.
She stared down at an interconnected series of cubes wrapped in springs and coils, with concentric circles wound around its middle. "This here is where we need you," Noah said.
"What is that?"
"Originally it was an ascendant. We need your magic to reactivate it."
"Why was it inactivated in the first place?"
Here Noah eyed her appreciatively. "Yeah, definitely Sheila's granddaughter."
Oh, right. Of course. Another Gemini witch, who had known Grams. Except he looked her age, so she wasn't sure how that worked out. "Don't tell me," she said. "My grandmother was your mentor, ally, friend, worst nightmare. Or, all of the above?"
He smiled. "No. I met her a couple times, but I was too young for council duties back when she was an Envoy. Just heard stories." Then he grimaced. "I was sorry to hear when she passed."
If she wasn't careful, she was really going to start not disliking the guy. He was probably the first and only genuinely nice Gemini she had met to date. Outside of Luke, and even he was many shades of snarky, but that seemed to be just part of the Parker genetic code.
"Sheila helped Joshua build it," Tariq said. "To trap Malachai. Prison world."
Without thought, Bonnie conjured one of the seats from the rows facing them, and plopped unseeing onto it.
Not pocket, but prison world? No wonder Kai hated her Grams.
"He wasn't the same back then," Noah offered, reading her expression wrong.
"So I heard."
Her grandmother didn't go through with it, obviously.
"They tried other ways to help. But we're a coven, not a hospital. Your grandmother and Kai's father, the methods they used. Not exactly something Kai was on board with."
Lobotomies and shock therapy, magic style, had been the gist of Joshua's words earlier. Yes, her Grams had made some excellent choices in life herself. Bonnie was thrilled to see how that ran in her family.
"I don't know the specifics, but your grandmother eventually fell out with Joshua. Around that time was when she...well, broke the ascendant." He moved to stand by her. "It's not common knowledge what happened to Kai during the years he went missing."
"Sheila helped Theo," Tariq added. "Made amends."
She could've hugged the man for saying that, and only hoped it was true. But Kai must not have been made aware of Grams allying with his grandfather. "How do you know all of this?" she asked, unable to completely erase all traces of distrust from her tone.
"Was there," Tariq said. "Your grandmother. Good woman. Don't mope."
"I'm not moping," she seethed.
"We don't have a lot of time," Noah said, hand raking his hair, and she read nervousness there, as he glanced back to the reception. "Tariq needs to go back, people will question if he's gone too long."
"But not you?"
The charming glance he threw her hid all signs of the worry he'd shown just seconds ago. He was good. "Nobody would read much into me seeking out the company of a beautiful woman."
These Geminis were some of the most practiced flirts she had ever encountered. Was it something they honed along with their cloaking spells during grade school? Never had she felt more out-of-sorts than here, with this assorted collection of powerful, attractive, flirty, insane witches.
"What happens after I activate it?"
"We lure Joshua out, cast the spell, and boom. He's gone."
"In the prison world? For all eternity? Strange punishment."
"No," Tariq said. "Not prison world."
"I ran into him before," Bonnie confessed. "Joshua. He...gave me some not so friendly advice. And mentioned the resurrection mask." She sighed, then ran her fingers along the side of her face. "I must've given off homicidal vibes unintentionally." She really hated the bastard. "Or on purpose."
Noah groaned. "Don't tell me he knows who you are?"
She pursed her mouth at him, eyes rolling. "If you and Tariq found out, why not? I might as well march back in there and announce it to the assembly at this point."
"I discovered you," Tariq said. "From Malachai's ward. You left residue. Bennett magic. Easy to spot."
"He's a sensate," Noah explained.
Bonnie nodded, irked because that was something that Kai could've let her in on. Naturally, the guy had let it slip his mind. Although maybe it worked out this way for a reason, and-
She stopped suddenly, a thought crossing her mind. "When did you start spying on me?" she asked Noah.
The way he was trying to avoid looking directly in her eyes told her that he suspected correctly what happened between her and Kai, after his secret surveillance earlier in the evening. Her cheeks were probably the most flushed they'd ever been her entire life.
"This afternoon, after Tariq warned me to be on the lookout."
She nodded. Someone else had been watching her and Kai during breakfast then. Not Noah, and not the possessed woman currently at the Gemini compound.
Finding her resolve, she stood and faced Noah and Tariq. "Let's do it."
Noah smiled grimly then offered the device out for her to study. She took it from him hesitantly, its cast iron weight like a boulder in her hand, ribbons of silver and gold running along its edges.
"When Tariq found it a few months ago, it didn't look like this. He worked with another coven to fix the parts, and they tweaked the spell. Like Tariq said, it's not meant to portal into a prison world anymore, Bonnie. They turned the ascendant into a Tesseract."
Her head lifted sharply, his words for some reason causing a tingle to start from the bottom of her feet and work its way up, until it felt like pinprick needles had sprouted all over her body, all the way down to the tips of her fingers. Her mind raced through what she could remember of her grandmother's cosmology grimoires.
Tesseract meant four dimensional objects, and from that her mind leapt to a closely related topic, space-time. This was headed exactly where she was both dreading and hoping.
"Where will it send Joshua?"
"World without magic," Tariq said. "He'll have none."
"He can never find his way back here," Noah added. "And he'll never put Kai or Liv or his other kids at risk again."
"Or ruin the coven." Tariq's exhale was rough, angry.
Unblinking, she let that sink in, and for a whole minute just tried to wrap her mind around the fact that she held in her hands, a device that allowed for hopping between universes. Not a time machine, a world machine. Right now, the spell Tariq had in mind would only work for one specific dimension, but with the right tweaks...the possibilities were endless.
"People would kill for this thing," she said, turning the Tesseract over in her hands.
Tariq and Noah positioned themselves at sixty degree angles, as Noah swirled his finger around. A circle appeared around them, and Tariq tapped his cane, a rush of wind escaping from it along with a gentle spark, fire lining the circle and forming into a triangle connecting their forms, lapping softly at their feet. Bonnie didn't feel it even as the flames flicked her toes.
Tariq's deep gravelly voice carried the incantation, Noah joining him seconds later and Bonnie listened quietly to them for a few moments, before she picked up on the words.
Branches overhead swayed roughly when her magic soared out, kicking the fires under their feet higher. When she started chanting, too, she let her veil fall away, and she kept her eyes open, watching Tariq's earthy magic form around them, solid and comforting, as Noah's leapt out, green and winding like a live snake through the their protective circle. Her own familiar black and gold threads tangled with theirs, lifting up and around, and soon her colors took prominence, fire and wind swirling around them in a dome.
She narrowed her focus on the device as it shot from her hand and towards the center, floating there above their heads, silver and gold edges on the Tesseract bright with life now. Twisting her hand, the dome of power around them twisted into new shape, a helix. With effort, she lifted both hands, and shot them out in front of her. The helix arched, reached towards the device, and the wheels and springs suddenly spun into action, a small hole appearing in the midst of the silver and gold concentric circles, sucking the magic out of the air.
With a small whoosh, and abrupt darkness, the spell ended, and the Tesseract dropped softly to the grass.
Bonnie stumbled back, feeling wetness on her nose. She swiped at it with a hand, and saw a little blood. Not too shabby.
Noah and Tariq, she saw, were sprawled on the floor. And she'd completely missed when that happened.
"Hrmp," grumbled Tariq, rising slowly without much help from his cane.
Noah's face was dazed as he gazed up at her. "Whoa," he breathed.
Tariq was standing, straightening. His cane tapped once, and the remnants of their spell work disappeared. The singed platform went back to normal rustic wood, and the clearing appeared exactly as it had before the spell. The Tesseract flew from where it lay on the ground and into Tariq's hands.
"Thank you, Bonnie," the old man said gruffly.
"Let me know when you'll use it?" she asked.
He nodded gravely, then tilted his head to Noah. "Don't tarry."
Then he disappeared.
Uncontrollable trembling overtook her then.
"Bonnie?" Noah moved even closer, and she stopped him, her hand grabbing his.
"That was kind of huge," she said, nodding and smiling a little, a deranged sort of calm taking over her, and spurring more shaking.
His return smile was confused.
"Residual," she muttered. "Why didn't you guys tell Kai?" He was their rightful head. She realized it was a question she should've asked earlier, but dealing with the Joshua problem had been her primary goal minutes ago. "Shouldn't he be involved?"
"Tariq's afraid the way your grandmother and Joshua built the device, it'll recognize Kai if he gets close to it when it's active. They don't want him being affected."
"It's volatile magic," she agreed. "I can't believe my Grams made that."
"No?" he asked lightly. "You Bennetts are pretty spectacular."
She glanced up at him then, saw the appreciation in his eyes turning warmer.
Juuuuust what the situation needed. She pulled her hands away.
"With Kai carrying the Gemini spirits," Noah went on, looking awkward. "The Tesseract might target him instead of Joshua. We can't risk losing our real leader, when we're trying to get rid of the dummy one."
"Kai can't be around when you guys send Joshua away, then."
"Right." His expression turned even more embarrassed. "My sister was supposed to help with that."
The words caught her, not just curiosity about what he meant but also, she suddenly remembered Fiona.
Yikes. "Um, Noah, your sister-" then her shoulders sagged, and she covered her face with a hand, fighting the urge to laugh uncontrollably. She closed her eyes instead, and summoned the woman, who appeared off to the edge of the platform, still sleeping.
Noah's glance took in his sister, slashing a brow up inquiringly.
"We had a run-in," Bonnie explained, lamely.
He sighed. "Listen, Bonnie," he said, apology laced throughout his tone. "My sister can be a pain."
"You don't say?"
He nodded, mouth pursed in acceptance. "Fiona knows something-she always does," he said earnestly. "But she never knows enough." His hands lifted up in frustration. "I asked her earlier, to help Kai. We were trying to find a way to get him out of the bounds of where this spell might reach." He shrugged. "She offered to try to take him somewhere. Apparently, she knew ahead about the change in who his betrothed turned out to be."
Bonnie let her gaze turn sharp.
"That's all she knows," Noah insisted. "We tried, but that's really all Tariq could get."
"Try harder."
"She was willing to help keep Kai out of trouble. She's not out to hurt him."
Sapphire eyes held hers, so much like Fiona's but the complete opposite because it revealed a human being lay behind the face, instead of a cold, calculating reptile. "When we found out you and Kai were involved, that's when we thought we needed your help aside from just activating the Tesseract. Figured," he stopped, clearing his throat, "you could be the one to convince him to stay away. If not you, maybe your friends could distract him while we complete the spell."
As he spoke, the tremors returned.
Noah frowned worriedly. "Is that normal?" he asked, his hands holding on her forearms, trying to calm her.
"Maybe," she muttered. "I'll let you know for sure next time I activate some obscure powerful world hopping tool."
His smile turned wry. "Kind of beating myself up right now that Kai got there first."
Bonnie almost gasped, offended. "What?" she demanded.
"Your number," he said, then his eyes widened, realizing how his words came across. "Kai beat me to it. Your cell phone...number. Is all."
A blush formed on her cheeks, and then she thought about it, and realized that he was wrong. She laughed. "Actually, no."
His hands were wrapped around hers, as he peered into her face. They were standing far too close together, but only because she was still shaking and he was only trying to help.
Nothing was going on, but it didn't look that way, if anyone were to walk in on them.
"How cozy."
And of course, Kai did, just then.
Bonnie and Noah jumped apart, their heads turned to side, where Kai stood, holding a large glass of wine in his hands, sipping from it coolly while in his eyes-an inferno raged.
"Spying on us whetted your appetite, Vansel?"
Noah moved away, his stance placating, while Bonnie hadn't budged, not even just a little. She was slow to react, practically a snail stuck in mud just then. Would that be her new normal, when it came to her and Kai and this world of the Gemini coven?
Alanis stood a few paces behind Kai, her face as perplexed, and Bonnie was thinking, well, finally, someone else, in the same state of mind as me.
"Well, Bon, care to enlighten me on exactly," he waved between her and Noah, wintry smile in place. "What. The. Fuck?"
Utter confusion reigned over her thoughts. Kai just kept smiling, calmly, as Noah walked up to him. Then Kai whipped his hand across the podium, breaking his wineglass. Blood dripped from his fingers, trickling down his arm, as he grabbed the other man and shoved him against the podium, holding a sharp jagged edge of glass against Noah's throat.
Someone screamed, and Bonnie thought at first it was her own voice, but that wasn't right, because she was frozen in place.
"What are you doing?" Alanis shrieked.
Kai glanced over at Bonnie.
"You tell me, Bon. Do I need to kill him for any reason? Be honest now." He let his gaze grow playful, and succeeded in looking like a bloody maniac, crimson streaking down his crisp, white shirt. "Rule number three. Partners don't lie to each other."
A/N:
Kai riled up enough for ya? ;) Probably not LOL
Again, thanks for the feedback, guys. This fandom is truly the best, so glad I went Bonkai. Sometimes I think canon Kai should stay dead on the show, b/c at least throughout his run Bonnie was his #1 (obsession). And it feeds our shipper hearts. If they ever resurrect him, I think JP would gladly demolish that. So-thanks for sucking, show! Although a guest return once or twice so we get that hot Bonkai hook-up (a la Klaroline) would be nice, no?