Author's Note: Hello, dear readers! So, now that we're into the final arc, the words have been flowing steadily and we're almost to the end (EEK). I'm thinking, most likely, based my current trajectory, there'll be another 6 or 7 chapters left with an epilogue. And er...remember when I said it gets worse before it gets better? Please hold onto that thought. Thanks for reading :)
"I'm just glad I finally got a hold of you. Okay, we'll talk later," Bonnie said reassuringly. "Stay safe." Pressing the off button and pocketing her phone, she turned to her friends with a sigh. "Liv says she's okay. She just had to wait until Kai left before she could call. She figures he took a guess I'd follow him again and decided to leave me that...message."
"You're sure he doesn't suspect Liv? He could be lying." Stefan seemed to echo the nagging thought that had already been worming into her brain.
"I know...but I also wouldn't put it past him to do something like this, not caring if I actually saw it or not." Her heart constricted painfully in her chest. A feeling she'd become all too familiar within the last couple of weeks. "Apparently after our altercation, Kayla was asking a lot of questions. I guess this was his way of killing two birds with one stone." Her hand wandered again to the spot in her abdomen, rubbing gently at the phantom wound. Mind whirring through various thoughts of the previous several days, it took her a moment to recognize that there were two sets of eyes boring into her.
Like two stifling mothers. For the first time since she'd met them all, she found herself wishing that Damon was here, instead. Loathe as she was to admit it, he wasn't capable of subjecting her to the pity she was experiencing right now.
Yanking her hand away from her torso, she forced out a slow breath. "I know, all right? You don't have to say it. You were right. I might have to...if things keep escalating. I'll - I'll have to." It was the most definitive answer she could muster, and for the first time in a while, she felt oddly calm. Seeing Kayla like that had muted something inside her. That vehemently outspoken voice that told her Kai came first. That told her she needed to focus on him before anything else.
It was still there, but the shouts had lowered to a persistent hum. They weren't wrong, Caroline and Stefan. She'd been sprinting, manic, not bothering to share her plans and just expecting them to fall in line. She could have potentially put Liv in harm's way. And even though she kept swearing up and down she was thinking of the coven, that wasn't really true, was it? She wasn't thinking of anybody's safety besides Kai's. And that had to stop.
"You guys were right," Bonnie spoke again, softly. "I'm sorry. I've been so wrapped up...but when it comes to people I love, I get this kinda tunnel vision."
"Bennett trait," Stefan said with an affectionate smile. "The Salvatores know it well."
His demeanor softened her and she allowed the remainder of her defenses to drop. "Okay, so how about this?" She shuffled to the desk and dragged it more towards the center of the room. Pulling the desk chair and armchairs around it, she bid them to sit as she took her place onto an accent chair. "We talk through this, together. You two have free reign to poke holes in what I've planned and I promise to take them under consideration. Deal?"
Stefan proffered a bottle of bourbon and placed it in the center of their war room before setting himself on the chair. With Caroline perched in the large, stuffy arm chair, he pulled some cups from a bag on the floor and poured generous amounts into each. He slid one over to Bonnie, his way of confirming his agreement.
"I'm not used to this," the hybrid murmured softly.
"Not used to what?" Caroline asked, taking a sip from her cup, her nose wrinkling slightly at the burn of the liquor.
"Having to answer to somebody else. Living the way I have, I just kinda...do stuff, you know? I don't actually have to run things by anybody." She took a drink from her own cup. "But I do appreciate it, having you guys here. Maybe you could just...ease up on the looks of pity?"
"Bon, they're not…" the blonde woman was quick to respond.
"They are." Bonnie cut her off succinctly. "And I know they're coming from a good place. But Kai's making his choices, and I...have to make mine."
Having been through such tribulations himself, Stefan's tone was sympathetic. "That's the worst-case scenario, okay? We just want you to understand the possible outcomes of this."
She nodded in agreement. "And I do." Her gaze flickered back and forth between them. "Don't get it twisted. Getting Kai to turn it back on is still my main focus, but I get that we should have some contingencies in place." Downing the remaining liquid in the cup, she turned to the ever-present stack of paper and books and pulled out a grimoire from the bottom of the pile. "Starting with this." She slid it towards the other two, lips pursed expectantly.
Stefan was the one who picked it up, gingerly peeling back the old leather cover to gaze at the words within. His face shifted through a myriad of emotions, making Bonnie call back to the day they'd met. Apprehension, confusion, and then, the big one: realization.
"So, my Latin is a little rusty, but what I'm looking at…" he trailed off, seeming to re-read the lines he'd just gone through.
"It's a spell that was created to sever the link between the leader and the rest of the coven," she replied grimly. "I think the first step of this reboot is to ensure the safety of the other members."
"I agree, but how did you get your hands on this?" Stefan's brows were knitted tightly together as he perused the text.
"He gave me full access to the library," Bonnie stated, clipped. "So I used it."
"Paranoid psychopath Kai just left this grimoire for anybody to pick up? There's no way."
"Because it's not a full spell." She dragged the book back towards herself. "This is only a partial, one that the Gemini have never been able to finish because they didn't have the knowledge."
"But don't the Gemini have almost all of the world's magic at their disposal?"
"Almost, yes." The brunette pulled back one of the drawers of the desk and gently removed a small notebook, her own version of a personal grimoire. "In all those years I spent travelling Europe, looking for Katherine, I came across a lot of witches and warlocks who were willing to teach me their own conjurations." At Stefan's look of skepticism at people freely sharing their knowledge with her, Bonnie hastened to continue. "Katherine made a lot of enemies. You can imagine the desire of these folks to want justice of their own."
Flipping through her notebook, she finally stopped at a page midway through. "The problem with what the Gemini managed to put together is that all it does is untangle the tethers that hold them all together." She didn't even need to look up to know how confused her companions were, so she slid out a piece of blank paper and grabbed her pen. "The thing that makes the ties so hard to sever is that they're a big jumbled mess. It's not just a direct link between Kai and each individual. It's like a webbing, with multiple strands encompassing multiple people and then linking back to him." She drew Kai's name on top and then various random letters with lines that met in a haphazard pattern leading back to the coven leader. "So, even if you had a way to sever the bonds, you could mistakenly cut the wrong strands and kill a bunch of innocent people. The Gemini spell unravels the knots and reveals the order you need to cut the bonds, so that you can fully split Kai from everybody else."
"But they don't have the 'scissors' to cut these strings," Caroline piped up, having been silent to absorb everything her friend was saying.
"Exactly." Bonnie pulled out yet another notebook. "But I think I do." Turning immediately to the last few filled pages, she let her finger run along the paper until she found what she was looking for. "Severing those ties would require magic of almost immeasurable magnitude. And it would require a vessel that could contain all that magic without getting destroyed. That's the part that they couldn't figure out. How to get a proper conduit that could withstand the essence needed."
Things started to click a little for Stefan and he took a gulp from his cup before leaning forward and resting his arms on the table. "And how much magic are we talking?"
"Um...all of the Gemini's ancestral magic that runs through the compound? I'd use Bennett ancestry, but this can only be done within Gemini parameters. And then my magic...and Kai's." She said it like a child who was about to get into trouble, tone thinning with each word. "And that was another issue for them; taking the magic away from the coven leader."
"Bonnie, there's no way you can house all that magic. Siphon or not, you can only take on so much before you start to break down."
"You're right, I can't. Not on my own." She hurried along to speak over Stefan's next words. "But one of the warlocks I came across back in the early 1900s - in Croatia - taught me a spell that will let me spread out the magic I absorb to others, so I'm not holding all of it at the same time." Eyes back on the paper, she re-examined her notes. "He wanted me to have contingencies in place should I have come across any of the Originals. I never needed to use what I learned, though."
Stefan looked absolutely gobsmacked, while Caroline seemed like she was ready to explode, her brain trying to work through everything Bonnie was saying.
"Okay, let's take a step back," Stefan began slowly. "You're going to need to use me and Caroline as magical tethers. We're going to need to go to the manor. A manor that we can no longer see, by the way."
"Yes, that's correct."
"And then you'll need uninterrupted time to recite this incantation to take apart the messy knot of connecting strings. At which point, we'll have to stand next to you, so that you can absorb the magic from the grounds and from Kai."
"Yes."
"And then you're going to have to cut through the links of hundreds of people, in meticulous order, so that you can sever the bond without killing anybody."
"You've got the gist of it, yes."
"And...will Care and I be able to protect you from any outside dangers at this point?"
"Um...no, you'll be pretty debilitated from the excess of magic within you."
"Bonnie," Stefan scoffed, an incredulous laugh bubbling from his throat. "There's no way we can pull this off. There's far too many steps, which means there's too much that can fail."
"Yes." Her tone was firm, resolute. "But it's the only way. I can tell Liv to make sure the manor's as empty as possible, so we won't have to deal with any distractions. And..I know it's dangerous for her, but she has the power to lower the cloak that keeps us from getting inside. And, at that point, it won't matter if her cover's blown. She'll be free; they all will." She looked at her friends imploringly. "I'll scramble our signatures, so he won't know we're there at first. And I promise I'll keep you hidden. He won't be able to see you to hurt you. And once everything's done, I can feed the magic back into the compound and just hold on to mine and Kai's. That'll release you."
"For somebody that's been running around like a maniac, this is pretty thought out," Caroline said suspiciously. "Which means you already knew, in your heart, that it might come to this."
"It was always in the back of my mind," she admitted. "Not because I didn't-don't-love him, but because I kept thinking back to all the things that happened with Stefan."
"Me?" The vampire frowned, confused. "I haven't done anything to you."
"No, but humanity-less Stefan is an absolute beast, the stuff of urban legend, he's so terrible." And if a humanity-less Stefan can come out to play, I'd be an absolute idiot not to think it could happen with Kai."
"So this is why you stole this spell book even though you were already starting to fall for Kai by this point?"
Bonnie nodded, a tear threatening to escape her lid. Sniffing hastily, she began to straighten up the desk, putting everything back together. "I just couldn't let that feeling go, that niggling worry, so I had to swipe it. But I didn't put another thought into it until after our...altercation." Her hand rubbed against her abdomen once more.
"And that's also why you hadn't been sleeping," Caroline said softly. "You were pulling double duty."
She nodded again in affirmation. "And why I couldn't bring myself to talk to you guys about it. Planning it out was one thing. Actually discussing it made it too real. Like, if I admitted that I was doing it, then the universe would make me have to. Losing Kai has made me crazy, I know, and manic. But that doesn't mean I don't understand. And why your pitied words and looks aren't needed here." She locked gazes with the blonde woman, her vision slightly blurry from the mist of tears that'd overtaken her. "And then seeing Kayla..it made me realize just how far he's willing to go. And how far I'll have to go, potentially, to keep up with him. When we got back last night, I was able to finish putting these pieces together."
"This is really dangerous, Bon. He said he wouldn't kill you, but…" Caroline bit her lip, worry suffocating her features.
"I know. It is. But after it's done, I'll have his magic and we can take him away from there, lock him up until we get him to turn it back on. It'll take him some time to recuperate; he'll be vulnerable."
The silence that followed was deafening as Caroline and Stefan had another one of their silent conversations. Finally, he broke away and turned to face Bonnie.
"You'll help me?" she asked hopefully.
"Yeah, but we're going to need some reinforcements."
"Thanks for doing this," Bonnie said sincerely, quickening her pace to keep up with Freya's longer stride. "I know you don't have to help us, so I definitely owe you one."
Lips quirking into a small grin, Freya spared a glance to her fellow witch and nodded. "A favor from a Bennett witch is definitely something I'll be cashing in on." They walked in silence, for several seconds, towards the edge of the Gemini grounds. "Besides, weird as it sounds, everything happening here is like a vacation compared to what's going on with my family back in New Orleans."
"Crazier than this?" She shouldn't have been surprised, but was a bit taken aback nonetheless. "So that's why you decided to stick around Portland?"
"It's quiet here. Klaus's roars don't travel this far."
They shared a knowing glance. Though Bonnie didn't know Klaus personally, she knew the rage he was capable of. "Family drama...we all have it. I'm surprised he hasn't demanded you come back."
Another muted smirk. "You can thank Caroline for that. As long as I say I'm helping her, he's like a docile puppy." The vampire in question, who was walking farther back with Stefan, reacted to the statement with a scoff of indignation. The two witches turned back to the duo and smiled when the young blonde went to grip Stefan's hand. A subconscious show of reassurance and affection. Stefan, for his part, seemed unperturbed by Freya's comment, but squeezed back nonetheless. "I've been staying at a Mikaelson property close by. We can bring Kai back there afterward. I doubt you'd want an angry coven leader tied up in a hotel filled with innocent people."
"That helps, thank you." The clearing was starting to come into Bonnie's view, the supposed entrance of the manor, still cloaked and hidden. Stopping on her tracks, she turned to Freya and inhaled deeply. "Okay, here goes nothing." She closed her eyes and began to pull her magic to the surface, causing the air around her to rustle at the leaves in the trees and the debris littering the streets. The incantation soon followed, a poetic monologue that seemed to encompass her and her companions. Freya's voice began to join in, lending herself to strengthen the backbone. The hybrid began to feel it working, the cloak pouring over them like a cold liquid. "Nullum visa laris." With a final whoosh, the feeling subsided. Bonnie glanced between her fellow witch and the two vampires. She couldn't tell if the spell had worked considering she was still supposed to be able to see them. "Think it worked?"
"It should've," Freya replied, seeming to pull at an invisible thread in the air. "It felt complete. I can't say for sure, but the spell itself was definitely performed correctly. If it fails, it was because of the spell writer, not the casters." The last part was said facetiously and Bonnie was pleasantly surprised by the humor. Beneath the stoic layer that commanded respect, there was a charming person that provided likeability.
"Good thing I'm a fantastic witch, then," the shorter woman said with a smile. By that point, Caroline and Stefan had joined. She turned to them. "You guys feel okay?"
"I kinda expected it to be like an invisibility cloak...but it's not because I can still see myself," Caroline said, always a bit in awe of Bonnie's magic. "Sorry, I read Harry Potter a lot."
Bonnie chuckled at her friend's antics before quickly sobering as she remembered the purpose of this. Facing where the manor should be, Bonnie pulled out her cell and picked out Liv's number to call. "Liv, we're outside and shielded. Can you lower the barrier to us?" She stayed on the line and everybody, save Freya with her normal hearing, could hear Liv's voice call out to the wards covering the manor. Slowly, the facade began to drop, the large familiar building filling the empty space that had been there before. "Thanks. You need to leave now. For your safety. We'll take care of the rest." She hung up and pocketed the phone. Squaring her shoulders, she walked determinedly up the path, the others in tow. She categorically shut down the voice in her head that called out her fears of the spell not properly cloaked them. She couldn't be seen. At least, not until she was close enough to Kai.
Liv was waiting for them at the door. Though she couldn't see them, Bonnie gently caressed her arm to indicate that they were heading inside. The younger woman didn't speak lest Kai hear her; she couldn't very well carry burning sage with her and cause suspicion. Offering a small nod, she quickly rushed down the pathway and disappeared as fast as she could.
The four of them entered into the foyer, with Stefan gently closing the door behind him. Bonnie moved silently, her nerves telling her not to speak even though she'd built a silencer into the cloaking spell. Her companions allowed her to lead the way, always staying several spaces behind. So far, things felt safe; they weren't triggering any booby traps or wards. This had to mean that her spell was working, which relieved her to no end. She led them up the stairs, towards Kai's study. He'd let his defenses down since he wasn't expecting her, so she'd been able to sense him since they'd stepped inside.
It was fortunate that the door was open. It saved them from having to figure out a way inside his office without alerting him.
Bonnie stopped at the threshold for a moment, gaining her bearings. He was leaning back in his chair, feet crossed atop his desk with a pen twirling in his hand. In his lap sat his personal grimoire. Since she'd last seen him, he'd started to let his facial hair grow in, now a bit more prominent than a 5 o'clock shadow. Sitting there with no front in place and no anger to speak of, he looked wonderfully boyish, such a contrast to the beast within.
To their credit, the other three allowed her a few moments of contemplation before Freya nudged her with her elbow. It was a silent statement. We're ready.
Taking in a deep breath, Bonnie began to mentally prepare for what she was about to cast. This was going to be one of the heaviest spells she'd ever performed. She crouched down to the ground and placed her hands on the wood floor, steeling herself for the magic that would start to flow into her.
Before she could begin the incantation, Kai pulled his feet off the desk and snapped his book shut with a loud thud.
The noise startled her and she yanked her hands back, her muscles taut and her form becoming more defensive.
He let out a loud sigh and stood, making a big show to stretch. Turning to face her direction, again, always looking like he could see her, his lips broke into the most dangerous of smiles.
Could he know she was there? How -
"Hi, Baby. I assume you're here because you got my gift."