"What's wrong? You're not going to stab me in the back again, are you?"
Slightly offended by his suggestion, she took a deep breath before answering.
"I didn't plan on it, but I could bust a blood vessel or two in your brain if you don't behave," she noted.
"Ouch," he said, walking backwards with a cockiness that was both annoying and seductive at the same time.
"Sorry, just being cautious. You understand?"
"I do," he told her.
Kai stopped suddenly and Bonnie walked into his chest.
"If you want me to, I could lie and tell you I'm not evil. That I don't think about killing. But the truth is I do. I still feel it – that urge inside of me," he confessed.
"So why don't you just give into it?" she asked, her brow furrowing, awaiting some snide answer.
"Your family didn't help me come back just so I could go back to the way I was," he said.
Bonnie looked down at her shoes, then back up into his eyes.
"Fair enough," she added, walking past him toward the house. A part of her wished his change in manner had to do with her.
He caught up with her on the porch as she placed her key in the door.
Kai reached for her hand and turned her around. Cupping her face in his hands, he spoke softly to her.
"I know deep down you hate me. I'm not asking you to stop. Just let me –" he started, but didn't finish.
The whistle of something slicing through the night air pierced her ears. His movement was faster than she'd ever seen from any other vampire. He grabbed the arrow being fired at him, and stood protectively in front of Bonnie.
Two Heretics stood on the street in front of Bonnie's house. One, a woman clad on all black, held a crossbow in her hands, her dark hair pulled back in a ponytail. She smiled as if she didn't expect to hit Kai; just get his undivided attention.
The other, a man with white hair, wearing a leather trench coat, lifted his hand as the wind whipped violently in the trees along the street.
Bonnie saw Kai's eyes darken as he turned to her, his vampire veins showing. His voice entered into a low timbre.
"Get in the house, Bonnie!" he yelled, "Now!"
Bonnie shook her head.
"Let me help," she insisted.
"I mean it! Cast a spell on the house so no one can get in," he said, not wanting to take no for an answer.
"I am not leaving you out here!" she told him, shocked at her own protectiveness of a man who nearly let her die several months earlier.
Kai's scowl at her defiance was brief, but powerful.
"Fine," he conceded, turning to face their attackers, "Not to be sexist, but if you don't mind taking out the girl."
"Understood," Bonnie told him.
They stood back to back, channeling each others magic as the heretics attempted to rush the house.
The woman in black launched another arrow toward Bonnie, who reversed its course, sending it back to the heretic so it impaled her in the neck. She then used her magic to send part of a picket fence through other woman's chest.
The woman fell to the ground, then disintegrated into dust.
Kai flew at the male heretic, knocking them both down. They landed blow after blow against one another; with neither gaining the upper hand. Kai wrapped hands around the other heretic's throat, and squeezed. The heretic raised his hand, using magic to throw Kai across the yard and into a tree.
Kai landed hard, sending bark flying in all directions. Then he vanished. For a moment Bonnie thought he'd abandoned her – again.
Anger settled into her soul as the male heretic stood to face her.
"Looks like it's just you and me," the man said, "Can't wait to kill the last Bennett witch."
Feeling the power of every one of her ancestors running through her veins, Bonnie readied herself to fight.
At that moment, Kai reappeared behind the heretic.
"Not my Bennett witch!" Kai said, ripping the head off the heretic's shoulders.
Bonnie exhaled. She tried to level the emotions she was feeling: anger, fear, pride.
"Damn, that did feel good," Kai added with a wicked grin.
The scene playing out in front of her was eerily familiar.
Several months before, Kai had taken her to the brink of death and watched as she laid gasping for air among the others he'd sent to their deaths.
How could she forgive someone like that? How had she forgotten what he'd done to her?
She turned to him, feeling the rage and guilt build within her like a storm. Kai's smile dissipated instantly once he noticed her expression. He looked down at the dead heretic, then back at Bonnie.
As if he could read her mind, he took a step toward her, then fell to his knees in agony. Bonnie used her magic to shoot pain through his body.
"Bon, what the hell are you doing?" he said, straining against the agony to get the words out.
"I have every reason to hate you Kai," she told him, walking toward him as he writhed on the ground.
"Ahh. I know," he said, looking up at her.
"So, give me a reason – damn it. One reason why I shouldn't," Bonnie yelled, releasing him from her spell.
Kai's heavy breathing slowed, and he finally stood to face her.
"You know the answer to that question, you just don't want to admit it," he said calmly.
Bonnie swallowed hard. She didn't want him to say it. It would be too strange coming from his lips. She backed away from him; not in fear, but in disbelief. There was no reason for him to care about her. There was no reason for him to want to keep her safe.
He'd done so much to call himself her enemy.
"You don't," she told him, shaking her head as the words spilling out of her.
"Look, we don't have time to fight about this," he said, wiping some dirt from her face, "They know I'm back and they know you're here. We need to go."
Bonnie nodded, then headed into the house to pack.
Bonnie tossed a suitcase and duffel bag into the back seat of her car, leaving Kai in the house to pack up some food for the trip. They were going to stop by the Witch Mansion on their way out of town, then head to her father's old apartment in the morning.
She didn't notice him walking up behind her, but she wasn't afraid. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her ear before he spoke.
"So who's the mystery guy you've been screwing around with?"
On instinct, Bonnie spun around and kneed him in the groin, sending him back three feet from where she was standing. She was able to get a good look at him before she answered.
"Damon, what the hell are you doing here?" she demanded.
"Checking in on you, that's all," he added, "You don't call. You don't visit."
"I'm sorry," she said sarcastically, "I didn't know I was obligated to check in with you."
"You're not – Just showing a little friendly concern for the woman Elena sacrificed 60 years of her life for," he retorted in his usual snide manner.
Bonnie felt nothing but rage at Damon's millionth attempt at a guilt trip. After all she had sacrificed for the good of the Salvatores and the Gilberts, he had no right to try laying yet another guilt trip on her.
"Damon, it's none of your business," she told him.
"He must be pretty important for you to just run off with the guy just when we need you the most," he snapped.
" 'We need you?' – Good God Damon, you'd think that was my last name: Bonnie 'We Need You'," she huffed, "Just when I thought I'd left my prison world."
Bonnie turned her back on him and headed to the driver's side door to toss in her purse.
Damon used vampire speed to pull her away from the car, slam the door and pin her shoulders against the vehicle. His face was so close to hers, the heat of his breath burned her face.
Bonnie noticed the desperate expression on his face. It wasn't anger. It was fear. She'd never seen Damon frightened. She'd seen just about every other emotion cross his face, but never desperation.
He loosened the grip he had on her shoulders, then looked down at her.
"Come on Bon Bon. I need you," he said.
"For what? A spell. My blood. Please tell me, since apparently I'm your full service, 24-hour, witch pharmacy," she shouted back at him.
Damon stroked her left cheek and took another step toward her.
"I don't need a spell, Bon," Damon said, "I actually miss you being around, and I want to meet the new guy taking you away."
Bonnie watched as Damon's body was ripped away from her and flew against the back porch. The back window shattered as the gutter fell on his head.
She could feel vampire level testosterone irradiating off of both of them.
Damon shook his head to clear his vision before staring up at his attacker.
Kai stood in front of him, then knelt down to eye level.
"I'm the new guy," Kai stated casually, "And you should try harder to keep your hands to yourself."
Damon's look of shock would have been humorous in any other situation, but there was nothing funny about the fact that the last time the two men faced each other, death followed.
"How the hell are you here?!" Damon choked out, "Last time I saw you, you looked like the headless horseman without the damned horse."
Bonnie knew Damon was buying time and gathering his strength before lopping Kai's head off a second time. She couldn't bear seeing that again. She couldn't handle losing either of them. For one brief, ironic moment, she felt as Elena must have when her friend was torn between Stefan and Damon.
She sprinted toward them, pulling Kai backward.
"Don't hurt him," she begged.
"I promise I won't hurt a hair on his pretty little head," Kai smirked.
"I'm serious," Bonnie insisted.
"Fine," he conceded, "I promise I won't remove his pretty little head either."
"Kai?" she glared at him.
Damon stood up and walked toward Bonnie and Kai.
Bonnie stood between them.
"Damon – No!" she warned.
"You brought him back?! Why the hell did you do that?" Damon yelled.
"The Bennett witches brought me back," Kai pointed out.
"What are you doing with Bonnie," Damon demanded.
"Wow, full of questions aren't we?" Kai joked.
Damon turned to Bonnie.
"What is wrong with you?! Why would you go anywhere with this psychopath?" he asked.
"We're leaving town before the Heretics and your mother decide to attack again," Bonnie told him.
"You want to run: Go for it. Not with him. He doesn't deserve to breathe. He sure as shit doesn't deserve you," said Damon.
"And who does? Tell me Damon: Who's still alive to give a damn about me? I guess you can't answer that question because my grams, my father, my mother, they're all gone either dead or gone because of all of you!"
Bonnie couldn't believe the words escaping her lips, but they were harsh truths that somehow found their way to the surface.
Damon launched himself at Kai, smashing him against the Bonnie's car.
"You're not taking her," Damon threatened.
"I don't think you have a say," Kai bit back.
"And I don't think you have a right to touch her," Damon answered.
Kai drew in a deep breath and Bonnie waited for the fight to start. It didn't.
"I love her Damon," Kai said, and then turned to Bonnie, "Not quite how I wanted to put it out there, but…since the cat is out of the proverbial bag."
Bonnie stood shocked into silence. Her mouth hung open and tears began to fill her eyes. She didn't expect to hear it from anyone, much less Kai. How could he feel that way after all he'd done?
Damon anger exploded. He grabbed Kai by the throat.
"Don't you ever say that about her. You don't know the meaning of the fucking word," Damon said.
"Actually I do. I looked it up. Internet. Very helpful," Kai bantered back. His mood shifted once he looked at Bonnie.
"Let him go Damon!" Bonnie shouted.
"No," Damon said.
"Now," stated Bonnie.
"Bonnie, don't leave with him," Damon begged.
"I'd rather be with someone that loves me than people who use me," she insisted, "I don't have a reason to stay."
Damon waited before responding.
"FINE! Tell this douchebag to break the spell with you and Elena," Damon screamed.
"I can't!" Kai answered.
"Like hell you can't," Damon pulled out a sharp piece of wood he was hiding, "You're gonna tell me now you little bastard, or I'll kill your ass again," said Damon.
Kai appeared indifferent to Damon's threat. He looked down at the makeshift stake, then back at Damon.
"You don't get it do you. Fine. I'll dumb it down," Kai started, "Some spells are bound by the witch that casts them; meaning if that witch dies, the spell is broken."
"So why didn't Elena wake up when I killed you?" Damon asked.
"Because the linking spell was never bound to me, Damon," Kai said casually, 'The Bennett witches made sure of that."
"Then who? Who do I have to kill to break the spell without Bonnie or Elena dying?" Damon asked.
Kai answered with a single word.
"Stefan."