I fell into a routine after that night, focusing on work at the Grill and practicing with Bonnie, never leaving Sheila's house when doing so. Scrying for potential threats coming from Lucien's way and monitoring the new Kingmaker Land Development office at pretty much every turn.

The other concerns seem so ludicrously uncomplicated compared to Lucien. For one, I have no idea what his plans are, only that he and the other two members of the Trinity have a hate boner for the Mikaelsons, and want to use that device whose name I can't remember to lock them away forever. Wish I knew how that turned out.

I'm halfway tempted to just walk into the tomb and eliminate the threat myself. Only reason that I haven't done so is that working with the Salvatore brothers would do a great deal to ingratiate myself to their side.

Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.

The elder brother saunters into the bar and sits down in front of me, while I wait on the next table in my section.

My eyes focus over his shoulder. Vicki blowing off her shift with Tyler Lockwood. Her neck is bandaged, but the vampire repellent spell should still be in effect. Should keep her safe until at least the next full moon, if not more.

"You're new in town."

"And you aren't."

He smirks. Why can't I deal with one hot psychopathic vampire at a time?

"No, I suppose I'm not." He tilts his head as he drinks a shot. "Listen, I'm fairly certain that your witchy friend has something that I want."

The talisman. The tomb.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about. I should really get back to work."

He grabs the upper part of my arm, vampire strength forcing me to wince.

"That'll be a magnificent bruise," I deadpan, not bothering to yank myself from his grip, which looks surprisingly relaxed, despite its power. Superstrength in action, folks.

"Don't lie to me," he glances down at my nametag, "Logan. You know you took it."

How does he know that I took it? That's the question that bugs me. I'm honestly unclear on the details of how he knew the Bennet talisman was even in the Lockwood Manor in the first place, but I'm definitely confused as to how he could possibly know that I took it.

"Again, really don't kno-"

The grip gets tighter and I force out a gasp between gritted teeth. If it were not in the middle of the goddamn Grill, I'd shove him away as easily as I did the millennia-old vampire earlier this week.

"Why are you threatening me?"

"You got in my way," Damon declares. "I don't like idiots that get in my way."

Gotta pivot this.

"Quite frankly, I don't really want to get in your way."

His brow raises. "And what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"My coven has the tendency to eliminate vampires when they group together. Nest mentality and all that, really challenging stuff." His interest is piqued, and when I pull my arm away, he lets go. "Legend has it that there's a nest of desiccated vampires, lying in a tomb somewhere under a church." I'll keep the future sight excuse if necessary under-wraps. "I'd quite like my new town to be free of a threat like this, you know?"

He stares at the mahogany of the bar for a moment, and I'm pretty sure that I'm avoiding a table right now. Whatever, I don't really need the job, with the cash I have lying around.

"Legend, huh." He doesn't have an inquisitive tone. "Well, Miss great-great-great whatever has the key to opening it. Wouldn't it be easier to just-"

"Give it to the witch it belongs to so that she can open it?" I'll keep the fact that I could just siphon a simple barrier spell like that away for the time being. "Pretty sure we're on the same side here."

"Huh. Did… not expect that sort of cooperation."

"What can I say, I'm a helpful guy."

I leave to take someone's order, though I can't keep my thoughts in check. He doesn't move from the bar, and the distraction of the tomb shenanigans calms me temporarily. At least I have the foreknowledge to wipe away that problem before it actually comes to bear.

"So you can help me open the tomb?" I hand over the order to the kitchen staff and return to him.

"Not yet. Bonnie is fairly new at all this, and though she's getting better, she's not going to be ready to open it for at least another couple months." That's not explicitly true, but giving Bonnie something to shoot for is good for the long-term survivability of the Mystic Falls group. Wiping out a threat like this is something that should be done as a group, even if I could handle it myself. "And before you ask, Sheila can't do it on her own, not that she'd want to help you anyway. A Bennett witch has to perform the spell, and neither one of them are strong enough separately right now."

If Sheila hadn't ruined her body through age and alcoholism, I know that she could do it.

"How do you know so much?"

"Talent, a library from a coven that's older than your kind, and asking the source herself." He appraises that for a moment, but I'm not finished. "Look, I will help you. We have a mutual goal. But you have to promise me something."

He laughs and then smirks. "Ugh, fine."

I'm not going to even entertain the notion that he'd take me seriously, so I'm not falling for it. Elena hasn't worked her doppelganger vagina magic on him yet.

"I care about the people in this town," I gesture to the patrons around me, ending on Vicki, "and supernatural entities are a threat to its safety. Keep your fangs in check, or I'll destroy the amulet and then remove you myself."

I wish I could reasonably say the name on the tip of my tongue without showing my hand, but keeping Katherine out of it is important. Probably should track her down too, honestly, but I haven't thought about it.

He just grins and then leaves, probably thinking the threat is cute or something, and I'm a little surprised that he didn't make some sarcastic comment. Isn't that Damon's usual spiel? Maybe I really did throw him off his game.

Or maybe that's what he wants me to think.