Cesare Salvatore was as silent as his thralls on the way back to the cabin. It made Jeremy more than a little uncomfortable. He already felt like the chauffeur.

"So did it go well? " He asked as he turned off the main road.

"Hmm? Oh. I'm not certain actually," Cesare said honestly. It still nagged at him that his brothers spirit existed at all with Madalena in the same town. Why was he not enslaved or devoured? He'd supposedly tried to kill her after all.

"Do you think you can help us get rid of her?" Another long silence followed.

"We shall have to see," Cesare answered finally. "I don't know what I am up against yet. The best way to keep her from achieving her goals is to keep her away from her son."

"Damon won't go. He says if he does she'll just find someone new to use and we'd never know it happened until it was too late."

Cesare sighed. "Has he always been a martyr?"

Jeremy laughed. "No usually he's a dick."

The older man raised an eyebrow. "You say that as if they are mutually exclusive terms. One does not have to be a kind and gentle soul to sacrifice oneself."

"Yeah, I still wouldn't call him a martyr. I'd call him an anti-hero but he's a darker shade of gray than that."

"He's a vampire, " Cesare said, "it's in their nature. They are predators. Humans are their prey. I doubt that cattle see humans as saintly caretakers either. They have their own morality as a species. Much as Witches, necromancers and humans do."

"My sister is a vampire." Jeremy said trying not to take offence.

"And in that existence, she is a child," He said. "Most human children are innocent of the ways of the world until they are thrust into adult life and learn to traverse more complicated morality than childhood requires. In a century or so she will be very different than the girl you know now. This is a good thing. It is necessary for her survival."

Jeremy wasn't sure how he felt about that. He could see the guy was probably right but he couldn't imagine Elena or for that matter Caroline turning into Damon. "I guess. Right now the best thing for her survival is to make sure her fiance's mother doesn't turn them all into slaves... no offence meant. " He said looking into the rear view mirror at the vampires in the back seat.

The female shrugged. "I'm not unhappy with my existence. "

"Yeah… but could you even tell me if you were?" Jeremy countered.

"Yes." Cesare said laughing. "She tells me when she's not happy, I see no reason that she couldn't tell you. We're not all like Madelena. Most of us hover somewhere between her and Alexandra Sauveterre. Most that have a hatred for the undead do not want to have them in their service. Unless they are power mad and looking for an army instead of a servant."

"So what happens if this ritual happens? I know that all vampires end up enslaved, but what does that mean beyond that fact?"

"It means that all vampires would be instantaneously enthralled the world around. They would belong to the nearest necromancer. If their necromancer died they would belong to the next nearest."

"And if the nearest necromancer was 200 miles away?"

"They would be enthralled to them and drawn to their location. Vampires are more plentiful than people think. I doubt that everyone in your town realizes that they are overwhelmed by them. Its much the same the world over. Particularly now that there are blood banks to steal supplies from,"Cesare said. "In the united states there are much fewer necromancers than there are vampires. The new world did not appeal to most of us. Occasionally someone such as Alexandra's father or Madelena came to this continent to create their own empire, but mostly its the younger sons looking to escape the rule of their family elder. Those who failed to manifest their gift would often leave to escape the reminders or the lesser status amongst their siblings. There are perhaps 200 necromancers on the North American continent. There are thousands of vampires. They will instantly have armies at their disposal. "

"So they'll fight each other...or more likely make the vampires fight each other for territory."

"Yes, that I fear will happen worldwide. But on a less blood thirsty scale in Europe. At least in the beginning. My people at home are older, more powerful, I'm considered young and I am nearly as old as Madelena. In Italy Alexandra would not even be considered an adult yet."

"So there will be fewer vampires involved but the fighting will be just as bloody."

Cesare nodded. "They will eliminate one another and absorb the vampires in their enemy's thrall."

"So why do you want to stop it ? Because you're young and low on the totem pole?"

"Our family was entrusted with the job of keeping it from happening long ago by those who rule our sect. We were the guardians of certain artifacts needed for the ritual to take place. Giuseppe stole those items when he fled the country with Madelena."

"So she used him to get those things? No wonder he tried to kill her when he found out Damon was talking to invisible friends."

"How is it you came to know that?" He asked, curious. It didn't sound like his brother at all.

"From Damon. He figured out what his father was doing when he was a kid and kept trying to save his mother from him."

"If Giuseppe had wanted to stop Madelena from performing the ritual he could have sent the pieces home or killed Damon. He wouldn't have had to kill her much less in a way that a child could prevent," He said thoughtfully.

"But killing Damon wouldn't stop her. She has a lot of other kids."

"With no access to their fathers."

"I don't understand…"

"I'm not entirely certain that I do either. Its something I have to think on a little longer. I could be getting things confused. I have not seen the ritual in a very long time. Every copy the Signori discover is destroyed. The only known copy belonged to Sauveterre."

"If he and Madelena were in the same coven would they have shared?" Jeremy asked.

"Cabal. We call them Cabals," Cesare said, as if speaking to a student, " but I suppose its the same thing. Yes its possible that they would share, but I do not see Sauveterre trusting her. He was ancient. One of the oldest of our kind. The mythos surrounding him says that he served as Xerxes I adviser. We don't know if he was in what is quaintly called his mortal life span at that time or not. You don't get that old by trusting other necromancers. Particularly not the Medici."

"How did he die anyway? I mean I heard that one of his friends betrayed him and all but if he was as distrusting as you say he was, how did that happen?"

"I don't know. Most of us doubt he is even truly dead."

"His spirit showed up to help Alexandra take down another necromancer last year. Doesn't that mean he's dead?"

"No more than Madelena being laid to rest in a tomb means that she was dead. There are many definitions of death for our kind."

"That's kinda creepy." Jeremy said.

"As it should be."

"Why do you doubt he's dead? I mean is it because he was kinda the boogie man and they never really die or something else."

"He left no heir." Cesere said. "Yes Alexandra is his surviving child and yes we've evolved enough as a society that she could be considered the head of the family but that's not all there is to being an heir. That's not the entirety of an inheritance. I met with the child. She has not come into her father's power. If she had, she would not need my assistance or anyone else's to stop Madelena."

"Maybe he had other kids than the ones with her mom. " Jeremy suggested with a shrug. "Or maybe she's not really his. I mean my sister is adopted, couldn't Alex be adopted to or something?"

"We don't adopt. We may foster, but we don't adopt. Bloodlines are complicated enough without that." And having looked into the girls eyes he had no doubt who her father was. So the idea that Julianna had cheated on August, while possible and even likely, did not give any doubt as to the girls parentage.

"Is it possible that we're all over reacting and Damon's mom is just a controlling bitch, not at all interested in turning Damon into a spell component?"

"Oh she's definitely that. But she's also power-mad and conveniently possessed of a son who is also a vampire. I don't believe in coincidences. I've lived too long to be that naive."

TVD

Stefan stopped walking as soon as he was near enough to see his mothers pale blue eyes. "Alright, we're here. What do you want." He asked blandly

"I never expected you to have such an attitude. I'm surprised your father tolerated it." Madelena said waving off the gardener.

"He never gave me reason."

"And I have? Do tell, my darling, what have I done to give you reason?"

"Oh I don't know, ordering Damon turned into a vampire, pretending to be dead for 150 plus years, never really caring about either of us in the first place, having Elena and I drug back here against our will." Stefan said folding his arms across his chest. "I mean what are you afraid of? That Damon will find out you've rebuilt the family home and are planning not to put in a rose garden this time? Some how I think that's not even going to register on his why I hate my mother meter."

"Damon doesn't hate me, Darling. He's just confused. And you are simply afraid because you know what I am and what you are… well… its not the ideal mother son relationship."

Stefan scoffed. "Really? You're going with that? Not the ideal relationship? Your kind enslaves and tortures our kind."

"Rather hypocritical of you to be so morally affronted don't you think? Ah that's right. You're one of the vegetarian vampire crowd. With your own brand of the harm none oath. Only that's impossible for you to maintain. You are of my blood Stefan. Granted there is more of your father in you than me, as evidenced by well… the fact that you were never going to be a true necromancer. But you have to understand one of our blood, our kind, whether they manifest the gift or not is a dangerous creature when turned. Damon is more powerful than a vampire his age should be. More abilities, more… strength."

"Spoken like a proud parent." Stefan said, a little bitterly.

"The other side of that coin is violence , desperation, emotional instability."

"No, we're still talking about Damon. I don't have that problem."

"Unless of course you go off your diet." She continued. "And then you run out of that iron Salvatore will. All of your sanctimonious rigid rules, all of your desire to protect humanity and love all the little creatures of the world, disappears along with your self control… tell me… are you addicted to necromancy as well? "

"Leave him alone." Elena said, suddenly angry, her fear falling to the wayside at the thought of what this woman was actually saying. "He's your son."

"My son died in 1864." Madelena said.

"Both of them died in 1864. But that doesn't make them not your sons anymore. Just because you're too blind to see that doesn't make them not your sons." She moved to step forward only to be pulled back by another vampire. She looked to Stefan to see that he too was being restrained, and then suddenly the hands holding them went slack and the bodies fell to the ground followed by the sickening squelch of their hearts hitting the dirt beside them.

"You might as well be talking to a brick wall, Elena. There is no reasoning with my mother about certain things." Damon said stepping in between them and approaching the necromancer.

"So nice of you to join us." Madelena said "Shall we all go inside for tea?" She produced a handkerchief and handed it over to Damon, indicating that he should wipe the blood from his hands.

"No, I don't think so." Damon said. "Like you said, we died in 1864. Pretty sure that its a rare exception that necromancers take tea with the dead."

"I'm afraid I must insist." She said, and scowled as yet another intruder joined them. "Tyler, this doesn't concern you. You can leave now."

"We're all leaving now." Tyler said and smiled at the howling coming from various points around the clearing. "Unless you want to see how many more of your pets die today."

"Well, guess that answers that. " Damon said, smirking. "Stefan why don't you take Elena home. "

"We both can." Stefan said, not about to abandon his brother. Their mother was too interested in getting him inside the newly rebuilt Veritas.

"Fair enough." Damon nodded to his mother in silent goodbye and pointedly turned his back on her. He paused momentarily, staring at Edmund, blue eyes narrowing. "What are you doing here?"

Edmund shrugged. "I go where the work is."

"Get out of my town." Damon said pushing past him, making sure that Stefan and Elena were in front of him.

Edmund laughed. "Yeah I'll get right on that."

Damon continued walking, one hand on his brothers back the other on Elena's.

Tyler walked behind them.

"Damon-" Elena began but he shushed her.

"Not yet." He said looking around. "We have spies."

"you can see them?" Stefan asked, suspicion in his tone.

Damon scoffed. "So can you. Its not like their ears are any less impressive than ours." He looked a spirit straight in the eyes and it flitted out of view. Yeah, he had no plans to give that ring back to Caroline. Then he smiled. He could hear the car coming up the road toward them. "If I'm not mistaken that is our ride home."

TVD

"And they were walking out of there like nothing happened?" Liz asked pouring a cup of coffee for Joshua and nudging the sugar bowl closer. "After just taking off without you? Did he give a reason?"

"You know Damon." Josh said as he began to ladle sugar into his cup. "He couldn't wait, didn't want me there after all… He's trying to get himself killed or worse if you ask me."

She chuckled quietly, "That's Damon. I think he's secretly Roman Catholic and needs to suicide by cop, or in this case by brother. Being his friend is … challenging." She shook her head as the fourth heavily laden spoonful of sugar went into the cup. "That's some powerful medicine you're taking there. Are you sure you even like coffee?"

"What?" Josh looked up. "Oh… I love coffee. You make good coffee. Thank you." He grinned. "Yeah I know… old habit. Keeps me awake."

"Is there a reason you want to stay up?"

"Several." He said "So what was it you wanted to talk to me about?" It had been a long day with things he couldn't tell her and he hated that.

"Vittorio Sforza." She said. "Remember when I said that my investigation lead to finding out that he's been involved in several other home invasions and robberies? Well the state police want me to pick him up."

Joshua drew in a deep breath. "That's going to be … exciting. Want my help?" He asked, taking a long drink of his coffee.

"Not with the arrest. But there's going to be fallout. You know there will and I have no idea how to fight off someone like Madelena Salvatore."

"You know how to fight off vampires. Your men know. That's going to be her first line of attack. We'll talk to Alexandra. There are ways to block spirits, to block necromancy. You'll need to keep the spirits away from him. But the truth is once he gets out of your jurisdiction we have no way of ensuring that anyone else is going to be able to hold him. "

"I know. But I don't see any other option. If I don't do it they'll begin an investigation into how things run here in Mystic Falls. None of us want that kind of scrutiny."

"I know. We'll sort something out. I don't want you taking any chances that you don't have to take."

"I'm the Sheriff. My job is about taking chances. You know that." Liz said.

"Yes. But those chances, those dangers do not involve Madelena." He said firmly.

"As long as her being in town puts my daughter in danger, it most certainly does."

"I suppose I can't argue with that, no matter how much I would like to." He said. "How much do your deputies know?"

"Not as much as I would like." She said.

"Then first thing in the morning we work on preparing the jail to hold whatever you need to hold."

She nodded. "Thank you."

"And tonight we let it all go." he said setting aside his coffee. "Tonight there are no vampires, no necromancers, no restless dead or witches."

"Just like that?" she asked.

"Just like that." He said, reaching over to take her hand.

TVD

"So you remember this guy from somewhere?" Stefan asked. "Where do you know him from."

"What does it matter?" Damon countered.

"It matters because he says he knows me and I don't know him."

Damon frowned. "What did he tell you?"

"No where near enough."

Elena sighed. "He told us that he used to work at the mill, and that his name was Edmund. That's it."

"He wasn't one of the tomb vampires. I would have remembered him." Stefan said.

"No. He wasn't one of them. He worked at the mill like he said. I think he belongs to one of the cabal. Someone keeping an eye on or out for Madelena." Damon said. It was easy to lie. Especially when he wasn't sure that it was as dishonest as he had intended it to be. He looked to Alexandra, willing her to say nothing, hoping that she would see what he was trying to tell her before she reacted.

"Well as exciting as all of this is I really need to talk to you." Alex said, her tone sharper than usual. Strangely enough Damon relaxed at her tone.

He rolled his eyes, happily stepping into the role of chastised bad boy if it got the topic off of Edmund. "I'm fine, they're fine. Even Josh is fine. He's over checking out Caroline's mom." He waggled his eyebrows a little.

"Ugh- that's gross." Caroline said. "You always make everything sound so tacky."

"That's not gross, Blondie, that's nature."

"That's my mom !"

"I thought you didn't mind them dating." Elena said.

"Dating is fine. Mom-dating does not involve... waggling eyebrows."

"I'm sure Josh's eyebrows are perfectly behaved." Damon said as Alexandra took his hand and pulled him toward the stairs.

"What is Edmund doing in Mystic Falls." Alexandra whispered, as they entered their bedroom.

"I don't know." Damon said. "But if he goes near Stefan again, I will kill him. "