Kai swirled the pink liquid in his glass before draining it in one long sip. He set the glass back down a little harder than he needed to, trying to snap Damon's thoughts out of whatever faraway place they had gone to. When Damon suggested that they get a drink at the Mystic Grill after the play was over, Kai assumed he wanted to continue their conversation from earlier but Damon hadn't said a word to him. He just fixed his brooding gaze on the glass of bourbon in front of him. It was still untouched, condensation forming on the glass.
If Bonnie wasn't around Damon didn't have to play into his sobriety act. Kai was only a little surprised when the bartender had served Damon a glass of bourbon as soon as they sat down at the bar, as if he had ordered it a thousand times before. Kai didn't care for bourbon but it might have been preferable to the drink he had ended up with. Telling the bartender to 'surprise him' had resulted in a fruity pink concoction. Despite its delicious taste, it didn't have the desired effect, or maybe Kai still had the tolerance of a vampire. He plucked a piece of fruit off the rim of his empty glass and popped it into his mouth.
The Mystic Grill was as busy as always. Damon had to lean in and raise his voice to be heard over the noise - drunken laughter, pool balls clacking against each other, chatter from the television no one watched. "Where did you go? You missed the entire second part of the play."
Kai leaned back, nearly slipping from the barstool, but then quickly readjusted. "I don't think I missed much. I'm actually familiar with the plot of Stone Soup." Before Damon could press on, he changed the subject. "Why did you lie to Bonnie about Lilly? I'm sure she would understand that you took some time to visit your mother."
"I told her my parents were dead, both of them. It was easier than trying to explain what actually happened, and we kind of bonded over it - the fact that we were both orphans." Kai's expression must have given something away because Damon was quick to explain. "Bonnie was adopted. She never knew her birth parents and her adoptive parents died when she was a teenager." He continued talking but Kai's focus had drifted to Bonnie and her familial history. Were her birth parents witches? Were they part of the Bennett coven? The name had come up in conversation before. Gina was the first to mention it, with her usual disgust, but the others talked about the coven with inexplicable fear.
Kai felt something prod his shoulder and just as he turned around, the snarky remark he was about to make dissolved into an irritated grunt.
Tyler leaned over him to grab a bottle of alcohol from behind the bar. He must have noticed Kai flinch. His mouth curved into a smile but there was still a flicker of loathing in his brown eyes. "Relax, vamp boy. We're cool." He triumphantly brandished the bottle in the air, the silver ring on his finger glinting in the light. "Love has made me a more forgiving man."
They had settled their fight about the car at the rehearsal dinner, but Kai didn't think his relationship with Tyler would ever be described as 'cool'.
He was still wondering about the wedding ring. Maybe the thing about silver and werewolves was just a rumour.
"Looks like Caroline actually managed to tame him."
Although it was an amusing thought, Kai couldn't fully appreciate Damon's comment. Tyler's temper was a match waiting to be lit and it didn't take much to set him off. To his surprise, Tyler didn't react at all. Then Kai realised Damon hadn't been talking to either of them, but to Mason. He was still too preoccupied with the silver ring to notice the other werewolf come up next to Damon. He didn't catch Mason's response but it seemed cordial enough.
Vampires and werwolves had a natural predisposed dislike of each other, and Damon and Mason were no exception. Still, their feud didn't go beyond bloodsucker jokes and dog comparisons. Mostly they got involved when Kai and Tyler were having one of their fights that got out of hand.
Mason ran a hand through his hair before taking a sip of his drink. With his soft appearance and his gentle, level way of speaking, it was easy to forget that he was the alpha of his pack. Sputtering and cursing, Mason threw his glass down on the bar. Liquid sprayed from his mouth.
"Wolfsbane." He grunted the word through ragged breathing.
Tyler flicked the cap off the bottle in his hand. He sniffed it and then sipped it. Droplets of the alcohol splashed the surface of the bar as he coughed and spit. His eyes narrowed, fixing on Kai and Damon.
Tyler looked like he was about to pounce on them but Mason held him back with a steady hand on his shoulder. "There's vervain in it too, and merlock orchid and ripple weed." He cast a sideways glance at Kai and Damon. "It wasn't them."
Damon looked down at his untouched bourbon, then at Kai's drained glass, and finally up at Kai. If there was vervain in the drink, Kai hadn't been affected by it at all - it was probably one of the benefits of being a hybrid, like the fact that he didn't need blood the way other vampires did. He didn't taste any of the other magical substances Mason mentioned either. He might as well have been a human.
Damon took a hesitant sip of his drink and then sputtered. "Vervain."
As Tyler's agitated posture relaxed, Mason let go of his shoulder. "It must be in all the drinks."
Tyler didn't wait for Mason to say anything else. He was at the other end of the bar with his hand gripping the front of the bartender's shirt. Mason followed his brother. Kai and Damon hopped off their barstools, not far behind him.
Fists bunched in the bartender's shirt, Tyler yanked him forward and continued yelling things in his face. The bartender's hands rested loosely at his sides as if he wasn't even trying to fight Tyler off. Kai had a vague recollection of seeing him clearing tables in the Mystic Grill before. He had blue eyes and dirty blond hair, good-looking in a plain way, with a name like 'Mark' or 'Mitch'. He was limp like a doll in the werewolf's grip.
Mason put his hands on Tyler's shoulders to pull him back. It was a gentle motion but Tyler winced and let go of the bartender's shirt, pushing him a little so he stumbled back against the shelf of alcohol.
Mark or Mitch or whatever his name was recovered, smoothing his crumpled shirt.
Mason had his hands braced on the counter in between them. "Where's the girl?" His tone was calm like always but there was a ripple of frustration underneath it.
His question was answered with a hazy blue-eyed stare. Kai was close enough to read the bartender's name tag which said 'Matthew'. The name paired with the appearance brought a distant memory to mind of a jock he used to go to high school with.
"What girl?" Tyler asked.
Mason's attention was focused on Matt. "The other bartender." He growled. "The one with red hair and the strange accent."
Kai tensed. He thought of Cassandra, then looked around the Mystic Grill, expecting to see her.
When he didn't he started to think maybe he was wrong and Mason was talking about someone else. The anxious feeling still gnawed at him and Kai started to realise why. People continued talking and eating in clusters as if they didn't even notice the scuffle going on at the bar. Before he might have been able to taste the glamour in the air but now without magic he didn't sense anything.
Matt blinked, unaffected. "I'm the only bartender working tonight."
Mason still watched him with close intensity like a wolf narrowing in on its prey. Tyler put a hand on his brother's arm, almost protective. It was odd how quickly they switched roles. Mason let Tyler tug him away from the bar. Kai couldn't help looking at the ring on Tyler's finger. It had to be platinum - too bright and shiny to be silver.
Suddenly, Tyler yelped and drew away from his brother. The sleeve of his jacket had been ripped and the material fell away like streamers. Feeling Damon stiffen next to him, Kai turned to his brother and then followed his gaze. At first he didn't understand why Damon was looking at Mason's hands, but then he saw the claws - sharp as knives and longer than he could have imagined. Kai hated looking at them. He moved his gaze further up Mason's shaking frame to his eyes that were glowing bright yellow.
Damon, who had been unusually quiet, leaned in to speak. "They're changing."
Kai almost didn't hear him over the snapping sound, like rocks being thrown against each other. Somehow he knew where it was coming from. His eyes snapped from Mason to Tyler, who was crunched over and growling at the floor. Tyler's fists were clenched and his jacket was stretched tightly over his body, material bunching as his muscles transformed underneath it. Just when it seemed like he was about to topple over, he threw his head back. His body was bent in an unnatural way. The chandeliers that lit the Mystic Grill shook as Tyler roared at the ceiling. With a cracking sound like lightning, he straightened and took a wobbly step towards Kai.
Kai should have backed away, should have been afraid, but something kept him fixed to the spot. Tyler's expression was conflicted - his glowing yellow eyes were ferocious, although they weren't quite as bright as Mason's, and his lower lip trembled - almost scared.
Kai's frozen stupor only lasted for a moment. If anyone should have been scared in that situation, it was him. He didn't have vampire reflexes. He didn't have magic. A werewolf bite was the last thing he needed.
"They have to get out of here." Damon held each Lockwood by the collar of his shirt as if he were dealing with puppies instead of werewolves.
Kai couldn't make sense of what he was seeing. How could Damon be so calm around werwolves? It was true that they were weakest during the transition - and when they were feeding like most animals - but they were still deadly creatures.
He tugged at Damon's sleeve. "What are you doing? Have you lost your mind?" He wasn't sure why he was whispering since no one else seemed to take notice of what was going on.
Damon shrugged his hand off. "It's not a full moon. They can't turn." Mason jerked in his grip, cracking sounds now coming from him instead of Tyler. Damon tightened his fists in the material of their shirts. "They just need to calm down."
Kai couldn't believe Damon was talking about it so loudly in a crowded place. He glanced around him, expecting confused looks or questions about why they were talking about werwolves as if they were real, but people continued doing what they were doing - eating, talking, drinking - like nothing unusual was happening.
Again, Kai looked for Cassandra. Red hair and a strange accent could describe multiple people. If he still had his magic, he would have known who cast the glamour. It wouldn't have taken any effort at all. He would have tasted it, smelt it, sensed it in an inexplicable way.
Kai clenched his fists, frustrated by his lack of magic. He didn't try to stop Damon who was making his way towards the door with Mason and Tyler in front of him. They were still writhing but they moved along with Damon's guidance as he urged them forward and out the door. He seemed so confident, almost as if he had done it before.
The door of the Mystic Grill stood open behind Damon and an icy breeze wafted in.
In all his travels, Kai hadn't come across many werewolves. Damon had lived among them in Mystic Falls his whole life. Besides, he was a vampire with super strength and speed, just as deadly as a couple of werewolves, if not more.
Kai relaxed a little. Then, he heard a sound that made him shiver. It was a wolf's howl - a thin, hollow echo. Damon said they couldn't fully change into wolves but no human could make a sound like that.
Fighting every instinct, Kai raced out of the Mystic Grill and towards the howling. He shoved glamoured people out of the way, knocking over drinks, and not caring at all. The cold outside coiled around him until he was frozen. It was dark except for the buttery light trickling out through the windows of the Mystic Grill and the faint glimmer of a half-moon.
Bright yellow eyes were the first thing he noticed. The wolf was so much bigger than he imagined, with thick grey fur that shrouded it like armour and rippled as it panted. Kai should have gone back inside where it was warm and bright, but the wolf's gaze locked with his, and there was no way he would turn his back on it.
He had pictured what Tyler looked like as a wolf. In his mind, the glowing eyes and sharpened claws didn't seem so bad. There was always a sense of unreality about it like he had copied the image from a storybook. Now that the beast was in front of him - everything about it grotesque and uncomfortably real - he knew he had been wrong.
The wolf growled and Kai could feel its hot breath despite the distance between them. Kai's eyes dropped down to the wolf's snarling mouth. The fur around it was wet and glistening ruby-red.
He remembered the wolf tattoo on Xavier's arm: the ribbons of ink snaking and weaving, the splash of red that he knew was blood.
Kai forced his gaze further down to the thing he had been trying to ignore. The wolf was bent over something, something that twisted and moaned feebly. Damon's plaid shirt was covered in red like someone had spilled strawberry jam on a tablecloth. Kai pressed his fist to his mouth, stifling a cry or the urge to throw up. He wasn't sure which. Maybe both.
A flash of silver zigzagged through the air surrounding Damon and the wolf. Kai couldn't focus on it, not wanting to look away from the wolf. Its nose twitched, sniffing the air. Tyler could barely control his temper in human form. As a wolf, ruled by primal instincts, he would be merciless. Kai thought of the pranks he had pulled on Tyler - from childhood to high school to the most recent incident with his car - and the threats Tyler had made in response, threats he was about to follow through on.
Damon used to say that Tyler's bark was much worse than his bite, usually after he had broken up another one of their fights. As Kai watched Damon's blood drip from the wolf's fur, he knew Damon had been wrong.
The wolf prowled closer to Kai. He wondered if the fruity pink drink was actually much stronger than he thought because he was seeing two wolves instead of one. They were identical except that one had blood on its fur and claws. As the bloody wolf moved towards Kai, the second wolf had materialised behind it. It had to have been the silver flash he thought he was imagining before. It was as if it had been skirting the scene, almost creating a protective circle around the other wolf while it fed.
The first wolf was so close to Kai he could smell the tang of blood on its fur. It drew back on its hind legs as if preparing to pounce, dagger-like claws shining, then it sprang to the side and ran away from the Mystic Grill.
Kai released a choked breath. Relief flooded him but his tense posture didn't relax. There was still another wolf. Its grey fur was pristine and bloodless. There seemed to be some kind of recognition in its glowing eyes as it snarled at Kai.
It waited for the other wolf to leave before it launched forward, bounding towards Kai. Instinctively, he threw his hands out in front of him. He searched for some last hoard of magic, some remnant of his vampire strength to throw the wolf off. There was no crackle of electricity at his fingertips or heat surging through him. He was just a useless human. A rush of wind stirred the air around him, blowing his hair and flapping his coat.
The wolf leapt in the air with its paws outstretched. At the last second Kai curled his fingers, grabbing fistfuls of fur. He used the wolf's momentum to twist around so he would land on top of it. Not completely useless after all.
He held the wolf close as he was thrown backwards. The force of the wolf propelling into him rattled him like the drop in a rollercoaster. He landed on his side, his shoulder hitting the gravel with a sickening thump. On the way down he had shut his eyes and the fur had slipped out of his fingers. He felt something against his palms, not fur, but skin - warm and damp with sweat. The hard muscle beneath it was flexed and taut. Kai's eyes flew open. The wolf had changed back into a man, but not the Lockwood he had been expecting.
Tyler's eyes still glowed. He looked only mildly annoyed to find himself tangled up with Kai. Startled, Kai jerked his hands off Tyler's chest. He rolled back as Tyler stood up.
Kai rubbed his forehead, trying to sort his racing thoughts. He had been so sure it was Tyler standing over Damon, Tyler with Damon's blood dripping from his mouth. Since he'd returned to Mystic Falls, the idea of Tyler tearing him apart had been a constant worry in the back of his mind. It was Mason, easygoing good-natured Mason, he should have been worried about. How had it not occurred to him before? Of course the alpha would feed first. His animosity towards werwolves was so concentrated on Tyler that he hadn't considered the more obvious explanation.
Still sprawled on the ground, Kai flicked his gaze to Tyler. "It's not a full moon." He tilted his head up towards the silver semi-circle in the sky.
Tyler didn't seem that fazed to have woken up naked outside the Mystic Grill. Werewolves developed their supernatural abilities earlier than vampires. He must have had a lot of experience with transitioning back - waking up with no clothes or memory of what he had just done.
Tyler's hands cupped his crotch in a show of modesty that, in another situation, would have made Kai laugh. "No shit." He said it with his usual menace, then looked over his shoulder.
Remembering that Damon was there, Kai pushed himself to his feet and brushed dirt off his coat. He walked over to him slowly almost as if he didn't want to get any closer. The blood on Damon's chest was still bright red, spilling from his broken skin like strawberry pulp. His eyes were open and unfocused. He was talking, mumbling things Kai didn't understand.
Kai crouched down next to his brother. Still unsteady, his hands shook as he cradled Damon's head. He could have used Tyler's help to lift Damon but Tyler stayed where he was.
"Did I - " He couldn't seem to finish the question.
Kai didn't turn around. "No. It was Mason."
That seemed to break Tyler's stillness and he moved towards them. Kai expected him to help with Damon, but Tyler still kept some distance between them. It took Kai a moment to realise why he was hesitating. It seemed like such a small, insignificant thing to worry about.
Kai stopped trying to lift Damon. He hurriedly shirked his coat off and threw it over his shoulder to Tyler, who readily caught it.
It didn't take Tyler long to slip the coat on and join them. He knelt down on Damon's other side and hooked his arm under Damon's arm. Kai did the same. Together, they managed to lift Damon onto his feet. Kai struggled under his weight even though he knew Tyler was bearing most of it. Damon's head lolled to the side, slurred words tumbling from his lips.
Tyler reached into Damon's pocket and pulled out a set of keys. With Damon's arms looped around each of their necks, they half-carried him to his Camaro.
Kai felt like he was being dragged down as Damon leaned more to his side. Just when he thought he was going to fall over under Damon's weight, Tyler pulled Damon closer to his side, taking some of the pressure off of Kai. It was more frustration at his own incompetence than curiosity that made him speak. "Why are you helping me? Why do you care what happens to Damon? All we've done is fight since we were kids."
"You always started it." Tyler's tone was biting but Kai couldn't argue. It was true that he had always been the first to strike. There was something oddly satisfying about getting a reaction out of Tyler.
It seemed like that was all Tyler was going to say, but then he stopped walking and sighed. Kai, already panting from exertion, was relieved to have a break. "He's Caroline's best friend. She would be devastated if…" He trailed off, catching himself before he could say it. "I have a brother too. I don't know what I would do without him."
With Damon's lolling head in between them and the stream of nonsensical babbling coming from his mouth, it was hard for Kai to read Tyler's expression and tone. Was that genuine concern? He stood motionless, almost dropping Damon as Tyler unexpectedly started walking again. Scrambling to keep up, Kai readjusted Damon's arm around his shoulder. Everything felt heavier with the additional weight of what Tyler had said pressing down on him.