Also as a disclaimer: I have never seen the originals so I basically have no clue about the canon events of the show, so they'll be retconned for the most part in this portion
So much for playing the long game, Kai. This chapter is also a long one so buckle up.
The Downward Spiral.
"Malcolm's dead."
Damon wastes no time with preambles when entering the dorm room.
"What?"
Caroline plops down on her bed, while Elena continues to curl her hair from the desk across from her. Stefan sits at Bonnie's desk with the chair turned backwards and his arms resting limply off the top rail.
"Malcom—he's dead. Somebody killed him. Keep up, Blondie."
"And how do you know this?"
Damon maneuvers around Stefan and heads straight to their fridge to pluck one of the many blood bags from it, and settles on leaning against it while he continues.
"Enzo let it slip. Said it happened the night before we blew up their mansion. And he told me this right after refusing to tell me anything about the so called "stone" they're keeping."
Bonnie and Caroline exchange a glance. Bonnie really wishes Damon would stop talking to Enzo before it ends up blowing in all their faces.
"What, so you think it was Enzo who did this?"
Elena stops curling her hair and turns away from the mirror to eye Damon speculatively.
"It was Kai," Bonnie finishes the answer before Damon gets the chance to respond.
Bonnie already knows he was the culprit before even fully piecing it together.
Kai was the last person to see Malcolm alive, it only made sense.
"Of course it was," Elena responds acerbically, before turning back to finish curling her hair.
First it was the random civilian, and now one of his own Heretics.
She just can't figure out exactly why it was that he finished the job for them.
After a few moments of pondering silence, Stefan speaks up again, the wrinkles on his forehead smoothening.
"Well, this is a good thing isn't it? We wanted our proof that he cared and there we have it. Someone was a threat to Bonnie's livelihood, so he killed them."
The implication behind Stefans words are strong, sure, and perfectly rational, so she's not sure why they take her so off guard.
Normally, this is where she'd try to think of an excuse, that her protection couldn't have been the reason Kai had targeted Malcolm.
He had seemed so disinterested in her wellbeing that night...
But then her mind flashes back to the aftermath of their...concourse.
She's still a quivering mess underneath his hands that are now smoothing out the goosebumps that had erupted along her arms.
The sweat slicking the back of her neck has long since gone cold, but he doesn't stop brushing his lips against the skin there.
He's the first to speak again, in a low rumble that hums through her.
"I know you probably think I'm still a monster, Bon. But I promise you, I'm not the same as I was."
She says nothing. She's not quite sure what to believe anymore. Her mind is still hazy from the aftermath of staggering waves of pleasure. Her cunt still throbs weakly.
"The truth is, I don't know what I would do if anything happened to you. I'm serious."
His voice has taken on a somber lilt, showcasing the severity of his convictions, the steady rumble still vibrating against her skin.
"I just want you to trust me."
The last part of his sentence wavers slightly through his breath, and she can hear the desperation cleanly bleed through.
It makes the corners of her lips curve upwards in a smile.
And it's not because she's touched by his sentiments, but because he's confirmed her suspicions.
She can no longer ignore his very obvious feelings for her.
So she doesn't.
And she feels lighter for it, almost.
The acknowledgment allows her to be more open and accepting in the days following, especially now that she knows that she will not be dealing with him for much longer.
.
.
They've decided on waiting to implement her blackmail plan.
Stefan believes that it would benefit all of them to try it during the gala when Kai is not only distracted by other variables, but so that he can be properly primed in the days leading up to it.
Liv, Jo, Tyler, and Alaric are arriving back in Mystic Falls the night before the gala, so it only makes sense to wait to get them in on the plan as well.
And additionally, the extra time will allow Bonnie to get her shit together regarding one of two powerful spells she needs to use, though only Damon knows this detail.
To tip the odds even further in her favor for her plan, she's been slowly weaning Kai off of blood bags in the days leading up to the gala.
She knows he's only finished one full one so far this week. She's been stashing the rest in her dorm refrigerator at Whitmore, something that Damon is quite pleased about as he gets to freely mooch off of them.
All this means is that Kai should be hungry. But not hungry enough that she can't distract him from the suspicious lack of blood bags with other things, but enough so that the main fodder of her plan works.
She thinks often of what they do in their free time together. He's taken to showing her various Gemini spells. Watching hours worth of movies in their freetime had gotten a bit old, but Gemini cloaking and illusion spells she decides, have yet to become boring for her. He seems to enjoy doling out various spells, and she enjoys being exposed to other facets of magic that hadn't been so readily available to her in the past years.
Gemini magic is just so different from Bennett magic, it's much more succinct, yet subtle, though it seems as though it takes up more energy. It sort of scares her in a way, the boundlessness of Gemini magic makes it seem as though anything within their realm is possible; something that she had to learn the hard way, was not possible with Bennett magic.
Kai's in the middle of changing the coke bottle nestled in her hand to look like a Pepsi, when Bonnie gets an important alert from her cellphone.
It's a warning from Caroline about receiving their gala invitations later on that day, and they ultimately do.
They get their invitations in the mail. Prim, crisp white envelopes with gold, official looking trimming.
After inspecting them thoroughly, Kai immediately asks her to be his date with an eyebrow wiggle. Bonnie rolls her eyes in response, though the unspoken affirmation is present.
They get ready together the evening before the gala begins.
She slips easily into her silken dress. The deep green color makes her eyes look brighter, her hair sits prettily in a low bun with wavy strands framing her face. The makeup she uses is minimal, but the golden theme gives her skin a natural-looking glow, her cheekbones look more defined, and her lips plumper. Gold earrings hang to nearly rest on her shoulders, complimenting the gold necklace her Grams had given her that rests against her chest.
When she steps out of the bathroom in tan heels, her breath catches when she sees Kai. The Heretic immediately stands from his seat on the bed upon her entrance, giving her a full view of his attire. He's donning an expensive-looking black suit, the trimming and cuffs are sleek and sharp, his dress pants tight against wiry thighs, held together with a designer belt, and shoes to match. His facial scruff is neat and trimmed, and his hair is styled in precise strands, a few stray locks falling over his forehead in a very 'Clark Kent' fashion.
He looks a bit too good for her liking.
And the notion kind of makes her stomach sink and flutter simultaneously.
It makes her miss the times in which she had been disgusted by his very presence.
Mainly because she is suddenly not entirely sure how she is going to be able to focus on what she's supposed to be accomplishing tonight given his outward appearance.
And from the way his eyes trail languidly up her body with his jaw clenched, it seems as though he has come to the same conclusion for her.
So on the ride over, she tries in vain to ignore the way Kai's stare burns into her skin, and instead focuses on preventing the blush sprinkling her cheeks from spreading like wildfire throughout the rest of her body.
.
.
When she enters the mansion Klaus had rented out with her arm tentatively wrapped around Kai's, she's sort of at a loss for words.
The sikorski crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling is the first thing she notices upon stepping into the gorgeous mansion. There's a large ballroom floor sectioned in the center of the main room, rows upon rows of elegant circular dining tables are aligned to the left of the ball room, while the right of the room contains skinny tables lined meticulously with various fancy drinks and flutes. A man sits running his fingers melodically along the keys of a large white grand piano with a minimalist string ensemble stationed in front of it. Various waiters in uniform walk around with small trays filled with probably every hors d'oeuvre known to man.
And most strikingly, the ball room is bustling with people.
It seems as though Klaus had invited all of Mystic Falls. Or at least all their higher up citizens if their expensive attire was anything to go by. She briefly wonders if they're all supernatural, but decides that that isn't entirely important. It sort of works in everyone's favor; the more bystanders there are, the less likely anyone is to cause a scene.
A man comes to take their coats from them, and Bonnie has to fight the blush that blooms on her cheeks yet again as Kai's large hands brush against her bare shoulders in removing her coat for her to hand to the man. Another man leads them to their table, which was apparently assigned to them. She doesn't have it in her to be skeptical of the fact that this random man already knows who both her and Kai are.
The excited bubbliness she feels at the grandeur doesn't fully fizzle until after they arrive at their empty table. She sees her name tag propped neatly on the lavish table in the same font and trim as had been used on the invitations.
Her eyes quickly scan the rest of the nametags, and stark realization dawns on her when she realizes that she is going to be stuck at a table with Heretics. Malcolm's name is not present, though there are two additional names she doesn't recognize. Their tags are propped on either sides of Lily Salvatore's, though Bonnie doesn't much care to discover their identities.
One issue at a time, she reminds herself.
She can only be grateful that the rest of the Heretics haven't arrived yet. She doesn't plan on ever sitting down with them. She plans on leaving long before it has to get to that point. That in of itself was a sure recipe for disaster. So instead, she turns around and scans the rest of the room, sighing almost overwhelmed with relief upon seeing Caroline in her pink ball gown by the grand piano speaking to Elena, their curled hair dropping in ringlets over their shoulders.
She doesn't feel bad when she immediately turns to Kai and tells him that she's going to go catch up with Caroline, especially not after spotting Nora and her witchpire girlfriend making their way over to Kai's table.
He merely winks at her and tells her to hurry back.
She doesn't have it in her to tell him that she has no plans on doing so.
Bonnie watches Elena whisper in Caroline's ear upon spotting Bonnie weaving her way through the plethora of bodies, grinning as Caroline whips around immediately with her face splitting open in a smile. They exchange pleasantries, all three of them gushing over the other's appearances.
Elena, for whatever reason, stares at something from over Bonnie's shoulder, her perfectly manicured eyebrow furrowing in suspicion and her head cocking slightly to the side as her brown doe eyes dart to Bonnie and then to settle on whatever's behind her. Bonnie is about to ask her what's wrong when Elena's voice cuts through the background noise.
"Have you and Kai ever…" Elena trails off, but the implication is clear.
"—What? No, of course not. Not even in a million years."
Bonnie feels her cheeks burning yet again, but this time more so in frustration, she feels righteously disgusted at Elena's aspersion, despite the slight ringing of truth. Elena still looks distracted and suspicious as her eyes cross back over to Bonnie's clearly disgruntled form, but her head ultimately shakes itself out of whatever contemplative pondering she was doing.
"Sorry it's just...nevermind."
Bonnie can tell that Elena wants to press the questioning further, and would be willing to bet that it was Kai who Elena was studying from over her shoulder, but Bonnie doesn't want to think of him. What she wants is him, and his uncanny ability to make her blush to be expelled far from her mind.
Before that little inkling in the back of her head tells her to look back at Kai before she can help herself, she suddenly spots Damon making his way determinedly to them. He looks handsome in his tailored black suit, his icy eyes pop starkly against skin, and his jet black hair is slicked back. She just barely can make out Stefan chatting with Matt and Tyler, donning handsome suits of their own by the flute table.
Damon plants a kiss briefly onto the side of Elena's head upon his arrival, he detaches from his girlfriend and his pouty lips go to form around a cheesy compliment towards her and Caroline before he can help himself, until finally stepping towards Bonnie with open arms.
She sinks immediately into Damon's firm chest. His strong arms wrap tightly around her, the blatant familiarity is almost jarringly comforting. She had been on edge since arriving with Kai, her heart rate elevated and her body had felt more flushed and nervous than she could ever remember it being, but Damon's presence easily smoothed those rough edges.
"You ready for tonight?"
His low voice floats from the top of her head, and she nods and hums a sound of approval that sounds muffled against his dress shirt, his manly cologne filling her sinuses.
"Now just remember, we want him to lose control, but witches blood—"
"—Is more potent, I know. I'll be fine okay, Damon? I promise," She draws back slightly then to look him in those icy eyes of his, wishing firmly to smooth out the worry lines drawn against his forehead.
He presses a gentle kiss to her own forehead, but Bonnie misses the way Elena's eyes trace astutely on Damon's movements.
"He's staring again, Kai," chimes Caroline, breaking Bonnie out of the comforting bliss she was in.
Bonnie untangles her arms from Damon's middle, and following everyone else's stares, turns her body halfway to watch Kai, though Damon's hands remain loosely planted on her waist.
Kai's sitting alone at the Heretic table with only Valarie as company. She appears to be attempting to communicate with him, though from his body-language and gaze direction, he is clearly not listening. A large ringed finger trails lazily along the rim of his wine glass, his posture slightly slouched and careless, but his eyes remain dark and acute as they settle deliberately on Damon and Bonnie's forms. From his position across the ball room, it seems as though he couldn't be farther away from them really, but the intensity at which he stares at them can be felt so clearly that it causes a brief shiver to roll down her spine.
Damon chooses then to direct Bonnie's attention back to him, his soft voice cutting through the glue of her stare.
"Just be careful tonight, Bon."
His hand raises to brush a curling tendril of hair from her face. And this time, she knows she's not imagining things when his eyes flicker to her mouth, reminding her of the very real kiss they had shared on top of broken glass and blood all those times ago. Her need to dwell on this thought is quickly swept away by the need to reassure him.
"I know...I have everything in place."
She isn't quite sure then why her voice wavers ever so slightly.
"Good, good," He's still speaking to her tenderly, his blue eyes roaming hers, until he finally steps backwards and drops his hands from her body. The sudden warmth that is lost at his detachment almost makes her want to pull him back towards her, but the thought dissipates from her mind as soon as it forms.
Damon turns to address the rest of them.
"The other good news is, Liv and Jo found the ascendant."
.
.
He originally was having a grand old time drilling holes into Damon Salvatore's annoyingly large head, and then consequently thanking the gods that he wouldn't have to converse with anyone in the Scooby gang (especially not the doorknob that is Elena Gilbert), when two unexpected presences fill his vision.
"Ah! And to what do I owe this pleasure?"
His sisters, Jo and Liv appear before him. He first notices that Jo's pale blue eyes look a bit more sunken than normal, and their skin has taken on that greyish fresh vampire glow. Liv's hair is tied into an intricate blonde bun sitting on the top of her head, while Jo's brunette waves tumble past her shoulders to rest along the top of her tan ball gown. Their glammed appearances however, do not distract from the fact that their mouths are downturned into petulant frowns.
"You killed my twins."
Valarie takes this as her cue to leave him stranded, seemingly not wanting to get involved in family squabbles, which was a smart move on her part. Kai finds himself secretly cursing her for not taking him with her.
Jo always had a soft, delicate way of speaking, and yet was somehow consistently able to convey a plethora of strong emotions in one sentiment, "I should ram this table leg straight into your heart."
His fingers still their swirling along the empty wine glass.
"What? No 'thank you' for saving your lives? You're welcome, by the way. And also, in case you need a reminder, I'm still kinda your coven leader so if you did kill me, you'd kinda be dead...again."
He is actually only like, 17% sure that that is a true statement.
"Oh, fuck off."
Liv takes a threatening step closer to him, but Jo is the one halting her movement. Ironic considering Jo was supposed to be the uncontrollable Ripper of the two.
Kai waggles his finger, "Not now, Livvie-poo, the adults are talking."
"We're the same age," Liv grits out, her fingers gripping angrily against the baby blue fabric of her dress.
"Yeah, funny how that worked out, isn't it?"
He can tell Liv is about to rip him a new one, when Jo speaks again, her eyes moving to settle back on his.
"How could you do this to me, Kai?"
Jo says it quietly, finally diverting his attention back to his twin. Self-righteous anger flares in his chest at the somber and defeated look that's sunk into her face.
"I saved your life," Kai's jaw clenches in anger, but his throat burns as he gets the words out.
"Being a vampire is not the same as being alive and you know that."
Jo swallows harshly and Kai can see the tears beginning to glisten in her eyes, causing his own chest to tighten uncomfortably underneath all the outrage.
"You killed my babies," her voice is so, so soft.
"I did you a favor," He corrects, "I get to remain coven leader, and you don't have to see your child murder the other in a god-forsaken twin ritual. If anything, I saved you the heartache."
He shrugs simply, the small bout of sympathy and guilt finally subsiding along with his anger, as his justification being voiced out loud successfully hardens his resolve.
"Burn in hell," Jo spits it at him and this time, her voice is no longer gentle but hardened, her eyes still glistening with unshed tears.
His eyes trail briefly to Liv who looks at him with the same amount of spite, and he feels his chest tightening again, but this time his stomach sinks along with it.
"I'm counting on it, dear sister," He grins for good measure.
They leave him there with that god-awful bitter taste in his mouth, so he gets up from his seat and walks to the fancily assorted bar table to wash it out. He sees Bonnie out of the corner of his eye and watches her head through the double doors to the restroom. He doesn't know why he expected her to see him alone and swoop in as his knight in shining armor, but he feels the disappointment regardless.
Reality's a bitch sometimes.
"Families are rough, aren't they?"
A slender blonde woman in a sleek red dress helps herself to some of the flavored seltzer next to him. She glances up when he does nothing but continue his search for a drink strong enough to make him forget his last conversation.
He's been feeling so damn hungry lately, and he thinks that maybe the alcohol will also serve to stem his cravings.
"Freya Mikealson," the blonde continues, though he hadn't given her any indication to.
An original.
His eyebrows quirk upwards at the reveal, and yet, he doesn't feel any vampiric aura wafting from her.
So when she holds out her hand, he tentatively shakes it only to get a better read of her.
He feels the magical energy immediately once their palms connect.
A fellow witch. Interesting.
"Kai Parker, but you already knew that."
He's reminded of what Valarie had said to him earlier, about randomly running into a Mikealson, and then what she'd told him a few moments ago at the Heretic table about this Mikealson gala being the perfect opportunity to find his answers.
He ultimately decides against prying Freya for information about Mary Alice and Astrid. Something about heckling another witch for information doesn't seem right to him. He'd much rather harass one of the original vampires instead.
And Freya…she had a bit of a forlorn look about her in his eyes. And if her family issues were anything like his...
So he doesn't speak further, and instead picks up the drink that he knows has tequila in it, and against his better judgement, downs it in one gulp.
.
.
She mutters the Latin underneath her breath from inside the bathroom stall.
Bonnie had searched the lavish restroom thoroughly before she'd entered, and fortunately found it deserted. She feels a sort of layery film of dread settle around her, but she assumes that it's because the dark spell is working. She'd always felt knots gather in her stomach when performing dark magic, but the air breathed into her lungs always felt brighter and more artificially sufficient afterwards, and this time was no different. It's merely a protection for her, the first part of her plan, a mirror of the spell she'd used when Klaus had to suck Elena dry in a ritual all those moons ago, and when she had fought him head on at the 80's dance; your average failsafe of a revival spell.
She supposes that it is a nod to how far her magic has developed, she no longer needed a slew of candles or 100 dead witches to accomplish something like this. A simple slit of her palm using one of her embroidered hair pins had done the job.
She steps out of the stall, her heels clacking heavier on the ground for some reason. She catches her own reflection and fortunately doesn't see anything too out of place. Although her palm now aches, her skin still dewy and bright from her makeup, her lips still coated in lip gloss, though her eyes do look a bit more jaded than normal.
Bonnie runs into Rebekah on her way from the bathroom stall. The blonde's wearing a deep blue gown, her hair is slicked away from her face and trails down her back. She looks gorgeous as expected, but Bonnie has long since given up being impressed by anything when it came to the conniving vampire.
Bonnie had hoped to simply ignore her on her way out, but Rebekah is fast to address her with her arms crossed and a slanted smile.
"Well if it isn't the Bennett witch. Still gallivanting after the doppleganger, I presume."
"Good to see you again too, Rebekah," Bonnie mutters it under her breath, but she knows that the vampire can hear her loud and clear.
She turns on the faucet to wash her hands and Rebekah takes out a bright red lipstick from her purse and bends slightly in front of the mirror to apply it.
"Your perfume smells delightful, by the way. What is it? Magic?"
The original chuckles to herself and Bonnie really resists the urge to roll her eyes. And because it is in a Mikealson's nature to prolong annoyances, she continues to speak.
"Is it true that you're dating the new Gemini leader? The one who was talking to my sister a few moments ago?"
"Excus—"
"Anyways, if I were you, I'd stake my claim before somebody else gets to him. He's looking a bit unattended, you wouldn't want him to get...distracted."
She catches Bonnie's eye in the mirror and winks.
Her stomach coils hotly at the suggestive tone and smirk gracing Rebekah's face.
Bonnie's about to retort when she gets cut off again.
"I personally never thought you had it in you, you didn't seem one to go for the dark and powerful type. Last I remembered, you were off babysitting the Gilbert boy," Rebekah finishes applying her lipstick and Bonnie watches her pucker her lips in the reflection. Bonnie feels defensive at the mention of Jeremy, and though she no longer harbored feelings for her ex, she still felt a protectiveness over him.
That, and she does not like what Rebekah is insinuating at all about Kai.
Rebekah finally turns to face Bonnie and her blue eyes languidly drawl once over Bonnie's form.
"Good for you," She says flippantly, completely choosing to ignore Bonnie's peeved temperament as she saunters out the door.
Bonnie's not sure why she's suddenly overwhelmed with anger.
Her stomach roils with it, and it's not until Rebekah's long since left until she realizes that that haughty feeling that coiled in her stomach at the mention of Kai, was jealousy.
.
.
"So you are the Heretic leader, I presume?"
Kai's surprised he's being approached by the original hybrid of all people.
He honestly expected to work harder for the acknowledgement, but here the original was, in all his hybrid glory, stepping besides Kai to watch people dance across the ballroom with a drink in hand.
"Klark Mikealson, right?"
Kai sees the hybrid's eyes flash in annoyance from the corner of his vision. Turns out the werevamp had a temper. Figures.
Kai's not too concerned about first impressions right about now. He suspects the alcohol is helping with that sentiment.
"Klaus Mikealson, actually, but close."
"Sorry," Kai says, not sounding sorry in the slightest, "I've never been good with names...And uh, to answer your question, no. The Heretic leader title belongs to the Mama Heretic in chief."
He doesn't care to mention that the title Klaus was looking for that pertains to him was coven leader.
What he does do is nod to the redhead across the room who currently has her arms wrapped around Julian on the ballroom floor.
Klaus' snake-like eyes follow his trail of sight before settling astutely back on him.
"Hmm, but you are the most powerful of the Heretics, am I correct?"
Ah, and that is why Klaus has approached him. There's always a catch.
"What's with the interrogation, brother?"
Another Mikealson, he presumes, steps on the other side of him, in a very thinly veiled attempt to demoralize him.
Two against one, how original.
This brother's face is smooth, contrasting the dusting of hair covering Klaus', though his eyes glint with the same wickedness. Kai can't help but think that this brother's grin is distinctly shark-like.
God, the stench on these two is ridiculous. They might as well be holding signs above their heads that say 'we're original vampires.' You can just smell their intimidation tactics from miles away.
"Oh nothing, Kol. I was merely making small talk with one of our esteemed guests."
That is when Kai notices out of the corner of his eye, from across the room, who he guesses is the third Mikaelson brother attempting to inconspicuously eavesdrop on their conversation as well. That is, until his presence is promptly taken up by Bonnie's blonde friend Clarice or something or other. He notices Klaus's gaze catching onto Bonnie's friend and lingering.
Kai doesn't really have interest in watching Klaus gaze at the blonde vamp from afar, so he cuts to the chase.
"So you two live in New Orleans, right? What's it like?"
The brothers draw their attention back to Kai before quickly exchanging glances over Kai's shoulder that Kai doesn't even care to try to decipher.
"Jazz, magic, daliences, the usual. "
Kai nods at Klaus' words, whatever that was supposed to mean.
"You know, I actually had a few friends who lived there, back in the day. Mary Alice Claire and Astrid Malachance."
Klaus' body tenses at the same time Kol's grin tightens considerably.
"And how might you know them?"
Kai can hear the warning in Klaus' voice under the guise of politeness clear as day.
He almost wants to drop the pretences and just get on with attempting to rip at each other's throats. It would be less painful than all this gallivanting around the subject.
"Friend of a friend," Kai says simply, his grin growing wider as a precarious silence blooms between the three of them.
He decides to push his luck anyways.
"You wouldn't happen to know where they are by the way? Last I heard they were stuck in some mansion."
He knows he's playing with fire, he's not being nearly subtle enough, but he's not interested in running in circles, not when the alcohol in his system is doing a fine job at stripping the edge off his normally calculated persona.
Just as Klaus lets out what Kai thinks might have been a growl, Kol butts in.
"Now don't be rude, brother. Of course we know where your friends are. They're at the Dowager Fauline's mansion. Fairly famous, couldn't miss it."
They both stare at Kol's calm form half-incredulous at the fact that he chose so readily to divulge this information, though Kai personally thinks he did a better job at masking his surprise than Klaus did.
"And now, since we've given you ample information, it would only be fair of you to return the favor. As in, letting us know why there are two additional Heretics seated with you this evening."
Interesting catch. It's funny how they mentioned the two new Heretics but not the absence of a (very dead) one.
"Oscar and Julian? They're not actually new," Lie, "they were with us in the 1903 prison world, but left the minute we got out, they wanted to live a "normal life" apparently. " another lie. "But you know how persuasive that Lily Salvatore is. Family's gotta stick together and all that."
That last part was not technically a lie.
"And are you a part of this "family"?"
Klaus' eyes glitter in wait of his response, and Kai has the offhanded thought that they really are a bit freakishly pretty.
Kai knows from Valarie how particular the originals are with family and he supposes in a way the Geminis and Heretics are too.
His answer will be important.
"Nope."
He pops the 'p' for emphasis and grins wolfishly while Klaus blinks a bit in expertely veiled surprise at his easy admittance. Kol glances once more at his brother.
Good, it'll keep them off guard enough for him to change the subject.
He looks side to side and ushers the two brothers to step a bit closer to him, though they do no such thing. Kai almost wants to grin once more at how both Mikealson brothers finely track his every movement as his voice lowers,"If you want to know something really interesting..."
He settles on telling them about the existence of another prison world, though they seem largely unimpressed. If Kai's being honest, they'd most likely have already been briefed on it by Bonnie's circle, but Kai doesn't care. He's gotten extremely good at taking on the role of vapid communicator. He figures that if he blathers on about something they have virtually no care in, they'll become disinterested, assume that he's daft and no longer bother with him. All without even realizing that they had benefited him, while he had given virtually nothing back.
He can practically see Kol's eyes becoming glossy as they trail off to the side through Kai's expungement of words, Klaus' nostrils flare in annoyance, though the polite grin never wavers from his face.
He decides then that he and Kol will get along splendidly, (he too, does not enjoy listening to people speak) that is until he follows Kol's eyeline. They've drifted straight to Bonnie, who is helping herself to a flute at the drink table. Kai feels a growl of his own bubbling in his throat as he catches Kol's eyes glide slowly up Bonnie's figure.
A sudden movement catches his eye and causes him to turn from Kol to watch Bonnie yet again, and this time, he watches Enzo stride up to the Bennett witch, his bodice settling a bit too close for his liking.
Jesus, what is with all these vampires and looking at his date like she's a piece of meat?
He's about to vamp speed over there, can practically feel his fingers itching with the need to wrap themselves around Enzo's collar and rip him away from Bonnie, when Damon steps in seemingly out of nowhere. Kai watches Damon's hand gathering at the small of her back in a gesture that seems far too casual and practiced.
"'Scuse me."
Kai murmurs abruptly as he steps away from the Mikealson brothers to make his way back towards his date. Kol has since moved onto ogling other women in their vicinity and barely even notices Kai's sudden departure.
He gets the tail end of Bonnie and Damon's conversation as he slinks nearer. The several voices from the bodies around him tamper over each other and make it difficult for Kai to parse out what Bonnie and Damon are talking about, but he manages to snag onto a few words of their conversation. Damon says something about Bonnie needing to be careful, he's guessing of people like Enzo.
Kai can't help but smirk ruefully. His skin burns with envy at how easily Bonnie seems to trust Damon, the possessiveness he feels over her causes his magic to heat in his veins and his eyes to narrow into slits.
If anyone is going to be "protecting" Bonnie, it'll be him.
.
.
"Is he bothering you, Bon Bon?"
Without waiting for Enzo's answer, Damon drags her longways along the table and away from Enzo's prying stare. Bonnie barely notices as Enzo slinks off into the background, their earlier conversation, and the drink she had been holding, discarded.
"More good news," Damon cuts right to the chase once he realizes Enzo is no longer within earshot, "Caroline's already spoken to Klaus, but she just got done talking to Elijah and they're on board for creating a diversion for the Heretics—keep them away from Mystic Falls long enough so that they can't finish whatever it is they're currently planning. Elijah already knows we have the ascendant safely tucked away in Mystic Falls, but he's left smoke trail hints to Lily about the possibility of it being in NOLA."
"Did Elijah also mention that they would kill them for us?"
Bonnie can't help the hopeful tone in her voice, though she is being half sarcastic.
"No. He said there were too many of them for that, and that they are currently in the middle of their own white oak stake...issue, which leaves them more vulnerable than usual. But they're still helping us stall until we get all the information we need from Kai."
"When do you think—"
Damon cuts her off suddenly, his nose wrinkling in confusion as he sniffs the air before her.
He sniffs again, this time a bit more aggressively and steps a little too far into her space to be deemed appropriate.
"Why do you smell like that?" Damon hisses, his hand that had been placed on the small of her back reaches to grip onto her elbow and guide her a few steps to an even more secluded area.
"Like what?"
"Like blood."
Now that she thinks about it, Rebekah did comment on her perfume in the bathroom earlier, but Bonnie had chalked it up to her attempt at toying with her.
Not to mention that Enzo of all people was making eyes at her and being nicer than usual when he'd bumped into her at the drinks table. Her witch blood had probably hazed over his dickish nature.
Figures.
"I-I had to cut my palm a bit for the spell."
"And you did it here?"
Damon's eyebrows rise incredulously. Maybe she did go a bit off the script, but she had her reasons.
"I wanted to do it sooner rather than later, while everyone else was distracted. I wouldn't have enough time to do it while getting ready or leaving the gala, what with Kai following me around twenty-four seven."
"You're in a room full of vampires, Bonnie, and that measly drop of blood is making you smell—" Damon cuts himself off and inhales sharply through his nose, but doesn't continue his sentence as his eyes slip shut, his adam's apple bobs thickly in his throat. Bonnie watches slightly curious and slightly transfixed at his reaction as jaw ticks once and his startling eyes snap back open.
"The point is, you're lucky people can only smell you when they're close, but that just means you'll have to leave soon. I just want you to be careful, Bon—".
"—Hope I'm not interrupting your little lover's quarrel."
Bonnie whips around to assess who had just interrupted them as Kai appears from behind her form, his grey-blue eyes glittering in clear challenge, with a half smile gracing his features.
She can practically feel Damon's stare drilling into Kai's form over her head. And even though her back is now turned to Damon, she'd be willing to bet that Damon's eyes were narrowed.
"—Actually—"
"—Damon," Bonnie immediately hisses. Her eyes flit back and forth in apprehension as she watches Kai and Damon stare cooly at each other over her head. Damon's jaw is clenched tightly and while Kai still has an easy going smirk quirked on his face, his eyes are hard and she can see his fist clenching by his side.
This is not good.
"Listen, Damon. Kai and I uh, actually need to talk," when Damon does nothing except nod at her to go ahead, Bonnie's eyes narrow, "Alone."
Damon's eyes finally return to Bonnie's and after a brief searching assessment of her equally unwavering stare, he briefly squeezes her elbow once more before turning on his heel to walk away. Bonnie sighs a bit, thankful that Damon had been the bigger person and smartly chose not to escalate the situation, before turning back to Kai, whose petulant stare was still focused on Damon's retreating form.
"Stop it, Kai. You're acting like a jealous child."
Kai does nothing except chuckle darkly, a saccharine smile curving his plump lips.
"What is it about Damon Salvatore that keeps you going back to him?"
He's still staring at the spot in the crowd where Damon had disappeared. And the longer he watches Damon, the more urgency Bonnie feels towards turning the attention back on herself and quickly.
"Kai, look at me," She wants to let out a breath of relief when cool grey eyes return to her face immediately, "I don't want you to think about him, okay? I'm your date, remember?"
She sees his jaw tick at her words, his shoulders straighten and arch before relaxing, as if her words are sinking into his very being.
"Yes you are...mine."
Date, she wants to add. She bites her tongue to prevent herself from correcting him.
Her eyes snag onto his and her throat suddenly dries.
His eyes burn hotly, red bleeding into the clear gray, and this time, she sees the fine veins ripple briefly underneath the thin skin below his eyes. This is the first time she had ever seen his face transform, and there's something beautifully terrifying about it. He blinks, then, some of the dark coloring of his irises righting themselves to their normal state, the veins under his eyes dissipate as fast as they came.
"Sorry I-I guess I'm just hungry or something."
He shakes his head a bit, as if loosening himself from the aggressive hunger that was holding onto him.
Or something is correct.
She doesn't corroborate his sentiment, instead, she steps into his space and watches as his eyebrows raise briefly.
She needs to sell this next part that she readies herself for, and she feels that familiar feeling of nervousness start within her, the same nervousness that had started when she'd first lied to him back in the wedding hall. She wonders briefly if she can handle the sheer amount of cruelty that will perspire from her actions tonight, but then she remembers everything he's done to her, and it suddenly doesn't seem so insidious.
This was bigger than her, or him. It was for the betterment of her friends. Like always.
She licks her lips briefly, attempting to swallow down her nervousness and better ready herself for what she's about to say next. A bout of confidence sweeps through her when she sees his gaze blatantly flicker to her mouth.
"You're just hungry, I get it. Which is why..." She takes a deep breath, "I want you to bite me tonight."
"What? Why?"
The response is immediate, the surprise readily present on his face, and Bonnie can honestly say she doesn't blame him.
She goes to gently place his large ringed hands in hers. She takes another deep breath before continuing, making sure to never drag her eyes from his for even a second, and attempts to keep her face as vulnerable and open as possible.
"I've been thinking, and I think this could be really good for us. Because not only are we currently out of blood bags, but I don't want to be afraid of you anymore. And I think that if you can show me the real you, not just the parts you've been wanting me to see, we can take our relationship to the next level."
It sounded better when she had rehearsed it in her head, but he obviously doesn't care. His eyes had started to glaze over the minute she had used the words 'us' and 'relationship' in the same sentence. He refocuses and their eyes remain ensnared within each other for a little longer, and she once again finds herself startled by their intensity.
It's not until he breaks away from her gaze to look down at their conjoined hands in which she feels like she can breathe again.
Kai sighs deeply, her eyes track his broad shoulders hunching and falling in his suit jacket.
"I-I don't know, Bonnie. I don't want to hurt you."
Now he's the one looking at her unguardedly, his face undoubtedly worried, his brows furrowed, like he wants to pull away from her but can't.
Once upon a time, she would've been surprised and skeptical at his words, but she knows now that he really means it this time.
This will not do.
She needs him to be completely on board with this if her plan was to work. Getting him hungry and emotionally vulnerable was just the first part, making him want to bite her was the finisher.
So she bites her lip, looks up at him from under long lashes, and allows her gaze to trail carefully over the hard and sculpted lines of his face.
Her fingers go to stroke the inside of his palm, slowly, sensually.
She watches his Adam's apple bob heavily in his throat.
Her voice comes out soft and slippery, but dangerous.
"What if I...want you to hurt me?"
The worried look on his face vanishes immediately.
Gray eyes turn molten black.
She can practically hear the groan bubbling in the depths of his throat.
She's not quite sure if it's hunger or anger that's flickered across his face. Hardened eyes glare at her like he wants nothing more than to rip into her skin like a savage.
She knows immediately that both their minds had traveled to that night where he'd breathed sinful things into her ears while playing with her clit. He had warned her about his fantasies of hurting her then, and he only had himself to blame for allowing her to utilize that to her advantage.
"Bonnie I—"
She brings her mouth to the shell of his ear, and makes sure her hot breath curls and licks around the sensitive skin. She doesn't allow their bodies to touch, not yet. They're just a hair's breadth away, because she knows that the lack of contact will only make him want her more.
She allows herself to breathe deeply, inhaling his masculine scent, if just for a moment. To calm herself before the storm.
"Let's go home, Kai."
.
.
They stand before the king bed, both still in their dress attire, the distilled light from the moon bathes the dark room in an eerie glow.
Bonnie moves to unlatch her Gram's necklace from her chest and places it neatly on the comforter before turning back to Kai.
She's silent as she grabs one of his large hands to place itself gently on the side of her throat, and almost shivers at the contact.
He's been unbearably quiet this entire time, his piercing eyes haven't left hers all the while, and she refuses to be the first to break the stare.
Instead of digging his finger tighter around the flesh of her throat like she expects him to, he silently moves his hand to cup the side of her face.
His fingers come to brush the same tendril of hair curled around her cheekbone that Damon had earlier. The thought causes her stomach to churn uncomfortably. His gaze flickers back to her, deep contemplation written clearly across his face.
"I don't know—"
"—You said earlier that you wanted me to trust you." She cuts him off a little bit more aggressively than she had meant to, her voice biting strongly through the clarified silence of the hotel room.
"I am giving you that chance to prove yourself," This time, she makes her voice softer, more sympathetic.
His gaze detaches from hers and he stares off again, into the distance, most likely looking at nothing as he does. Her heart beats soundly in her own ears, the blood in her veins throbbing baitedly in the silence. As if hearing this, his eyes travel back to refocus on hers and they're hardened. His lips tighten into a grim line.
He speaks slowly, carefully.
"If I do lose control, promise me you'll try as hard as you can to get free."
I don't think you'll need to worry about that part.
She almost wants to smile.
His eyes search hers again, looking for an answer, so she lets him.
"Trust me, if blood sharing feels as good as people say it will, then you'll have nothing to worry about."
He doesn't look fully convinced, so she steps into him, their bodies aren't touching, but she brings a hand to slither up the back of his neck and sink into his hair. She watches his eyes slip shut at the sensation of her fingers digging into his scalp. She gently guides his head towards the slant of her neck, right near the collarbone.
His breath hovers like a whisper of flames over her exposed throat. His warm lips brush against the skin; once, causing the skin there to flush, and the second time causing her to release a stilted breath. Her eyes slip shut in anticipation of what's to come. Of what she will do to him.
But he suddenly yanks himself away from her. The coldness she feels at his absence is jarring. Her green eyes snap open to see him stumbling away.
"Why-why'd you stop?"
No, no no no no!
She wants to scream at him for not following the trajectory of her plan. She wants to scream at herself for allowing her body to keep reacting so willingly to his.
Her eyes narrow as she corners in on him, following his stuttering steps and closing the lost distance determinedly. She will get this to work if it's the last thing she does.
"I-it's just—you almost smell too good. I don't trust myse—"
She grabs the sides of his face and slams her lips into his before he can finish the sentence.
Kissing Kai Parker is somehow everything and not at all like how she expected it to feel.
She feels as though she's fuzed to him. Every single part of her body has compacted itself into the hard planes of his. He had frozen at first, his lips had remained unmoving and shocked still against her determined ones. And then, it was like something broke within him, he lurched forwards so he could press himself more heavily into her, his arms wrapped themselves tightly around her waist, and his lips began to move fervently to match her intensity.
He's greedy with his kisses, she's come to realize.
He slants his mouth over hers, domineering and persistent, his tongue cajoling and lapping and sucking on her lower one until she has no choice but to open her mouth so that his tongue can plunge comfortably into it. She feels that familiar heat start up, warm and unyielding in her stomach. She almost feels overwhelmed and startled by how much she revels in it as he hunches his back to get closer to her still.
She has to remind herself that the soft feel of his mouth devouring hers isn't what she's here for. She wills her stomach to stop flipping with arousal and the heat to stop flushing in her veins, and instead detaches her lips from his to brush against the stubble of his cheek. His head drops easily into the crook of her shoulder, his own lips going to suck and swirl his tongue on the skin there.
So she arches her neck even more, exposing every inch of herself to the beast she knows she's steadily awakening.
"Please," She says it breathily and desperately, like she needs to feel his fangs sink into her neck more than he does.
Kai groans, it's a low rumble that travels straight to her groin. And she sort of wants to kill him for throwing her body off track for the second time. But she reminds herself to be patient.
She's taken off guard by the sudden puncture of his sharp canines into her skin. She had expected there would be more contemplation and grappling on his part, more hesitation. It hurts, his torrid lips fuzing to her neck to suck the blood swirling hotly in her veins makes her magic flare in protest.
His cock stiffens against her stomach almost immediately.
Her heart pounds obtrusively in her ears. Everything in her body screams, her survival instincts ignite with the need to push him away. Instead, she fights against it, her own hands travel upwards to tangle in his hair, pressing his lips so deeper into her skin that she can feel them burn too. Every last inch of his body is touching hers.
He moans loudly, one hand comes to grip bruisingly against her hip bone and the other comes to cradle her neck to press closer to his mouth. Their magic intertwines in a dangerous dance, she feels as though hers is close to being ensnared.
He takes and he keeps taking, the same greediness that'd bled through while he was devouring her lips translates clearly to his strain to keep guzzling her blood.
After a few moments of her blood being suctioned from her body, she feels her head start to cloud, the pain from his fangs breaking into her skin has started to settle into a dull ache, her hand begins to loosen its tight hold on the tendrils of his soft hair. And almost as if Kai feels it too, he begins to loosen his hold on her.
Her heart catches.
Fighting through the haziness the blood loss is giving her and with renewed determination, she grips onto his hair even tighter and forces his mouth back onto her throat.
Whatever self control he'd been harnessing earlier, slips away into a depleted fizzle of nothingness.
Their magic continues to entangle, except this time, hers is trying to escape on reflex, while his only grows stronger. Her heart flutters now, but just barely in her chest, trying feebly to keep up with the amount of blood being continuously taken from her.
When her arms finally drop from his shoulders from the exertion, she knows then, that she's in the endgame. She begins to fight against him, her arms weakly flop and pound against his solid and unyielding chest. And it's sort of terrifying, how unaffected he is by her attempt to get his attention.
She knows in the back of her mind though, that she doesn't need to be afraid. Instead, she causes her voice to croak in an attempt to let out a scream from her mangled vocal chords.
She knows the exact moment he realizes his mistake.
His body slackens against her, his hands still their bruising grasp on her hip and throat. As he hurries to detract his fangs, she makes sure to drag her neck against the pointed edge of his teeth. It's painful and hurts like hell, but she needs his feed to be sloppy, needs her skin to open up jagged and scarred so that more blood falls for him to see it seep onto her dress.
She allows her body to relax and slip through his shaking grasp. Her body slams into the floor hard, and she sees stars explode her own vision and her eyes shut, the air knocking slightly out of her lungs.
She should be dead.
Instead she just feels weak. Except, she doesn't feel weak enough to not accomplish the rest of what she'd set out to do. The dark spell she had done so long ago in the restroom of Klaus' mansion whispers against her skin as a safety net, successfully preventing her from slipping into eternal darkness.
Kai had nearly drained her completely.
"Fuck. No no no. Bonnie. Please wake up," She hears his frantic voice echo numbly in her ears. Her eyes flutter open, but all she can see is red seeping into the red.
Kai refocuses in the center of her vision and he looks crazed, all wide-eyed with pupils blown and bloody hands running through his own hair and smearing the crimson liquid of her essence across his face.
She chances one last glance at him, watches bloody hands reaching out towards her to stem her own bleeding before muttering the spell Lucy had shown her.
In the night, under the blood and the lulling pull of the moon, she escapes to safety.
And so she leaves him in their hotel suite, alone with only the single cry of his own shock ringing in the still air.
.
.
His fingers pass through nothingness.
One minute, she was there, bleeding and bruised on the ground below him. His fingers had reached out desperately to quell the wound that he himself had torn into her. And the next minute, she had disappeared through thin air without a trace.
He shouldn't have lied to Bonnie earlier when he'd told her that he was no longer a monster. Because he was still a monster. He was even worse than what he'd used to be. Because at least then, he wasn't hiding under false pretenses and feelings from preventing him from thinking and doing fucked up things. No, he was a monster, and he had paid for it.
He was right not to trust himself around her. He had gorged himself on her blood. And the worst part was that he didn't want to stop, not until every last drop of nectar was sucked from her skin.
He had wanted to tell her then, why he was so worried about hurting her. That if anything ever happened to her because of him, he'd be destroyed. It would kill him. And if it didn't, he would do it himself. Because while somber, it was true. He didn't have any other purpose to stay alive if not for her. He had no real coven to look after, and his family didn't want anything to do with him. He only had her. He is no longer interested in playing the long game. He's sick of pretending she doesn't mean everything to him, because she does. He doesn't care about bending her to his will now that he knows she can be ripped from his grasp so easily.
Because now, he had lost the one thing that had ever truly mattered to him.
The screaming cry that exits his lungs is harrowing and ear splitting and intrinsically devastated.
His fist flies into the concrete wall, breaking every single bone in his hand.
Except that he can't even feel the pain anymore. His heart is numbed—it had been encased in an icey horror the moment he had seen what he'd done to her.
He should've stopped the minute he heard her heartbeat becoming fainter in his ears. He thought he had tried to at one point, but something was keeping him there, pulling him in to guzzle more of her sweet blood. The bloodlust he had felt was the most overwhelming sensation he had ever felt in his entire life. The rich and flavorful witches blood soaked and quenched his throat in the sweetest ambrosia. The pleasure had flooded through every nerve in his entire body, all the way done to his toes. And the best part was, it had seemed never ending.
He had been ripped out of his bloodied heaven and thrown back into the hard planes of reality once he had heard her frightened scream crackle faintly over the blood rushing in his own ears.
Seeing her helpless and dying on the ground by his own hand was not something he hasn't seen before. But looking at her this time, and seeing the dark red soaked along the side of her gorgeous dress was horrifying. The fear that had swept through him was devastating, his lungs tightened and his entire body seized with cold, as if he was the one who had been practically ripped to shreds.
He couldn't even think straight. In that moment, all he wanted to do was to make sure she stayed alive. And looking back on it, he can't even remember if those hauntingly gorgeous green eyes had blinked up at him or if they had remained stagnant and unmoving like the rest of her. Everything in his head is telling him that he killed her, and yet everything in his body is screaming at him to try and find her.
He doesn't care, he decides. If Bonnie's dead, he'll drag her corpse and revitalize it through any mode of dark magic he can find. Bonnie was his. She said so. He'll find her dead or alive. Even if he has to rip himself apart and put himself together to do it. Even if it drives him into inherent madness.
His plan for her, for them is crumbling beneath his fingers. He can't let that happen. He refuses to.
He slits his palm open with the blunt edge of his nail. More of his blood leaks onto the marble floor below him, to join the red already his feet. He summons a map from one of the drawers and lays its crinkled form over the blood speckled bed next to her necklace. He places the gold necklace gently and carefully over the map and then walks over to his closet to pull the black banded daylight ring she had made for him from the box on his armoire and also places it in the center of the map for good measure.
He allows himself to steady his breathing, dampen the paranoia and agony threatening to cut through him, as flashes of her horror-stricken face flickers through the pounding of his head. He still feels on edge, his body jittery and unable to completely still as he raises a shaking hand to drip a single perfect drop onto the map of Mystic Falls. He closes his eyes instead, wills his shoulders to stop trembling and his heart to stop beating painfully.
He mutters the locator spell in his head, feeling his magic latch onto the items sprawled along the map before traveling to sink into the drop of blood.
His eyes flutter open, and he watches the drop of blood lay stagnant and unmoving on top of the paper map.
Bonnie Bennett is nowhere to be found.