Halloween approaches faster than I intended, but an uneasy calm has spread over the town and the region. No suspicious deaths have been reported; it appears that my threat to destroy the means to open the tomb has pacified Damon. A bit of good news that I'm almost convinced will backfire somehow, one day.

For the past few days, work has consumed most of my time, though almost none of my worry. Training and preparing aside, at least there's good company.

"Tanner won't stop riding our asses." A very odd thought comes to mind before I shove that aside, glancing toward Matt as he continues spraying the dishes. "In school and on the field. Thought he was going to kill Tyler the other day in the locker room, for failing the last test."

One of the only things that I regret changing. The stupid asshole coach is still alive, and he'd be long dead by now if Damon had his way.

I hand him the next dish. "That sucks, buddy. I never played sports, wasn't in good shape."

Matt studies me for a second, eyes shining under the kitchen lights. "Nah, man, I think your shape is fine." Grinning, he continues, rambling about their next game.

The desire to ogle Matt while on my shift is, apparently, my only real worry this evening, a worry that is harder and harder to stifle the longer that I work here. I'm tempted to leave the job behind altogether, to live off of my pilfered funds, but that's only a small thought. Easily ignorable, for the good of my libido.

As I'm bringing back the clean dishes to the front, someone clears their throat. "Have you gone on break yet?"

The voice shakes me from my thoughts, and a different problem rises. The smarmy asshole himself leans over the counter blocking access to the kitchen, sniffing the air slightly.

Matt, glancing up at the newcomer, waves off in my direction, wringing his impressive arms. "You can go ahead, I'll tell Rhonda. Ben's coming back in a moment."

Fuck. Sliding my apron off onto the rack, I slowly walk out to meet him, and his thin palm catches the back of my neck, pushing me toward an empty table. "Lucien, what are you doing here?"

"Other than listening to your heart beating like a bitch in heat around that blond?"

I roll my eyes as I sit across from him, feeling trapped. No magic sits in my system at the moment, but my bracelet still rests on my hand, at the ready. "What do you want?"

"I don't want anything."

"Liar."

He chuckles, the light from the setting sun drifting into the window and glinting against his stupidly pretty teeth. "You caught me. Just like I caught you."

What could he even mean? I've been relatively inactive of late, keeping my head to the ground. Bonnie eventually started training again – the fight with her mom had been even rougher than I realized, though I'm told they eventually recovered. Maybe. Teenagers are stubborn.

"My colleague Alexis has hit a snag. You see, in trying to learn about your whole thing," he gestures at me lazily, his finger coming to a stop against his slightly parted lips, "she sensed something quite extraordinary, but so utterly confusing."

When he says nothing for a few seconds, I just stare at him. "Are you going to elaborate?"

He scoffs. "I thought you would fill in the details. After all, we have such a rapport!"

"We've spoken once."

"And what a conversation that was."

I sigh, and he just laughs, feigning thinking fondly of something on the tip of his memory.

"Alexis had a vision that was quite mind-boggling, and I believe that you can help me rectify that haze."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure you do. She has visions, you have visions. You speak from your fancy words, I drink from your flesh, I have your vision."

The hitch in my breath is almost certainly audible to him, and from the growing grin on his face, I try to push it all aside.

"You think I'm going to give you the opportunity to drink my blood?"

"Certainly."

"As absolutely awful as that sounds," I cross my arms, "I'm afraid that I'm going to have to decline."

He leans forward slightly, the top of his expensive shirt open just enough to reveal part of his torso. "My connections are many, connections that I can extend to you. Money, power, admiration – all of it can be yours. I simply wish for clarity, clarity that only someone with your skills can provide."

"You already have a seer."

"She has failed to provide for me what I seek, but a second opinion is warranted. Anyone who can tangle the future of this town as much as you have almost certainly must possess great skill."

I lean back in my chair and try to look smug, try to look like I'm not as terrified as I really am. Is Alexis really keeping such a close eye on Mystic Falls? "Is this the part where you reveal some other leverage you have over me is at stake?"

"Maybe." He smiles his Cheshire grin. "Do you want to take that risk?"

"A vampire like you definitely doesn't walk in here without a back-up plan or two."

"If you plan well, and you're as powerful as I am, who needs a back-up?"

A long moment passes between us until I finally make up my mind. "I have to get back to work."

As I stand, he moves with preternatural speed to grasp my hand, hard enough to hold me in place but not hard enough to harm me. All things considered, it almost feels… gentle. "You'd never to have to work again in your life…" His voice lilts with every word.

"But I'd be working for you. I'll take a hard pass."

He rolls his eyes but grins wide. "Suit yourself. Give your friend my regards."

I stand and return, knowing full well that my break isn't fully over yet. The wait is going to kill me, but I shoulder on, ignoring Lucien's wave goodbye.

"What'd he want?" Matt nearly makes me jump out of my shoes, as he gears up to collect his next table.

"Nothing much, just someone that I know."

"All right. But listen, you're coming to the Lockwood party tonight, right?"

I shrug. "I thought I'd check it out." Gotta make sure nothing fishy happens - terrible things always happen at parties in this town.

"Good, we can hang. Just need a night out, no stress." He grins that beautiful smile. "You got a costume?" When I shake my head, he laughs. "That's all right, Vicki's got some fake blood. We can be murdered busboys."

"Uh, sure. Why not? It's better than going as Harry Potter again." He just laughs, blushing with secondhand embarrassment, and then heads off to collect his next order.