Chapter 20

A Rush of Blood is Not Enough

Klaus threatened Jeremy. He sent Kol up to where the younger Gilbert was staying in Denver, and he was patiently awaiting orders to kill Jeremy if Bonnie didn't comply. This left Bonnie no choice but to do whatever Klaus wanted.

She was told to tell no one about where she was going or why she was going there, so she didn't and drove to the Mikaelson mansion like he wanted.

On the way over, she barely had any nerves and only a little apprehension that stemmed from the fear that she might mess things up somehow. It was a fear she always carried with her these days, so that was what she let show on her face when Klaus opened the mansion's front door.

He welcomed her inside with a grim smile and told her he needed her to work on a spell to undo the link between him and his siblings. It was a request that would ruin the other's plan to kill all the Originals at once, but it would also save their lives since Klaus was the head of their sireline. As the only one with that knowledge, she followed him deeper into his home and up the stairs without protest.

He led her to Esther's grimoire atop a coffee table in a room, and upon looking over the spell, she saw was going to need blood from all of the Originals to perform it, so Klaus left her while he went off to collect his siblings' blood.

Running her fingers through the ends of her loose hair, she looked around the room he'd left her in. It was a study lined with old oak bookshelves filled with classics as well as a few grimoires. In the center, there was a set of brown leather armchairs and a small leather sofa surrounding the mahogany coffee table with Esther's grimoire on it. Bringing her eyes back to its tattered pages, she read over the spell again. Once she had, she grabbed five out of the eight candles that were conveniently scattered in places about the room and placed them in a circle on the coffee table. In the corner of the room, there was also a cabinet with glasses and a few bottles of wine and other alcohol inside. She was tempted to pour herself a drink, but she only grabbed one of the old wine glasses and placed it near the grimoire in the middle of the candles. Once she had done that, there was nothing else to do, so she took a seat on one of the chairs and waited.

Her friends called her every once in a while, but she put her phone on silent. Since she never showed up to Stefan's meeting in the woods and wasn't responding, they must have been worried about her, but Klaus had also threatened to kill anyone who came to rescue her, so she dutifully ignored them for their own safety.

Currently, they should be out after Finn. He was the first Original they killed and the reason they discovered the sireline link existed. Damon, however, was close by. She sensed his approach a few minutes ago and knew Rebekah had him somewhere in the house.

She grimaced at that knowledge. The urge to go to him pricked at her conscience, but she made herself stay where she was. Interfering would only make things more complicated, and he would survive this. He would recover and be fine in the end. His life was not at stake.

Abruptly, not long after Damon was brought to the house, Klaus returned with the blood, placing four vials on the table. One for Elijah, Rebekah, Kol, and Finn. He bit into his own hand, letting his blood drip to the wood floor, and asked her where she wanted it. Bonnie nodded at the wine glass on the table, and he held his bleeding hand above it. While his blood dripped in, she grabbed the other vials of blood and poured them into the glass with Klaus's. She began the spell.

Klaus kept a close eye on her as she chanted the words, and in between the Latin phrases, she emptied the glass of mixed Original blood out onto the table. The spell was almost done, but Damon's shout startled her, breaking her concentration.

"I wouldn't let the noises bother you, love. Keep going," Klaus ordered.

She complied, but the noises bothered her immensely. Damon being tortured right beneath her while she did nothing to stop it made her stomach turn, but she went back to chanting. The blood separated into five different circles and slithered along the table into five different corners. The candles around the room flared with the final chant as the separation completed.

The room quieted.

Bonnie turned to Klaus, who still hovered at her shoulder. His dark blue-green eyes traveled over the separated circles of blood. "It's done. Am I free to leave now?" she asked.

"Certainly," Klaus said. His gaze returned to her, and the corner of his mouth slid up into a satisfied smile. "A promise is a promise and you've done what I asked. Come. I'll escort you out."

Ever the gentleman in-between threats, Klaus opened the door for her, and she followed him back down the steps. When they reached the bottom, Rebekah came out of another large room to Bonnie's right, the same room that had been used for dancing at the Mikaelson ball. With a clean white cloth, Rebekah wiped Damon's blood from her hands, making a grimace resurface on Bonnie's face. That grimace deepened even further when Bonnie looked behind her.

Through the archway, Damon was strung up in the middle of the room, his body suspended by his hands caught in two bear traps hanging from the ceiling. His shirt was torn open and streams of wet and dried blood stained his clothes and chest from being drained by Rebekah.

Seeing him suffer like that caused her heart to twist painfully inside her chest. A hot wave of anger rose within her, but he would be okay, she reminded herself. She would tell the others after she left, and Stefan would give Klaus the rest of the white oak stakes in exchange for him.

"Aww, leaving so soon?"

At Rebekah's mocking tone, Bonnie's fists clenched up at her sides. She was two seconds away from wiping that haughty look off her face with an aneurysm.

"Sister. Be nice."

Listening to her brother, she forced a fake smile. "Thank you for unlinking us, Bonnie. See you in physics class tomorrow." Rebekah turned around to walk back inside the room, and Klaus saw Bonnie looking past her to Damon again. Her nails dug deeper into her palms. His life was not at stake, she repeated to herself, but the words rang hollow at the sight of him barely conscious and still dripping blood.

"You'll have to excuse the mess. Apparently, Damon hurt her feelings." Klaus's uncaring, flippant tone only pissed her off further.

Her head swung towards Klaus, and the words she'd been holding back tumbled out of her mouth. "Let him go."

Klaus raised his eyebrows at her, and Rebekah, who had one foot through the archway, stopped in her tracks.

"Let him go," she repeated. "I've already done what you asked."

He shook his head. "That wasn't our deal. I'm afraid you're going to have to take that up with Rebekah."

Rebekah turned around, her blonde curls bouncing across her shoulders. "And my answer is most assuredly no. What Damon did is not going to go unpunished."

Bonnie wasn't supposed to be the one to make the exchange for him, but she couldn't leave him like that. She just couldn't. If she hadn't seen him, she might have been able to, but the sight of him strung up like that was too much. It went against everything in her to ignore it. "What if I told you there were more white oak stakes? Would you let him go for them?"

Klaus narrowed his eyes.

"That's impossible," Rebekah said. "The last of the white oak has been destroyed."

"We found more of it."

"You're bluffing," Rebekah accused.

"Have you fully bled the vervain out of his system yet?" Klaus asked his sister.

She turned towards him, surprised. "Surely, you don't believe her."

"It can't hurt to check her word against his."

Rebekah looked between Bonnie and her brother. "Fine. I can be done in a few minutes," she said and then slipped behind the door to presumably finish. Bonnie itched to follow and stop her.

"Why would I lie?" Bonnie pulled out her phone. "Here, let me call Stefan."

Her fingers rushed across the buttons to dial his number and he picked up on the second ring. "Bonnie? Are you alright?" He asked.

"I'm with Klaus, and he has Damon." Damon's grunts could be heard as Rebekah tried to finish draining him as fast as possible. Bonnie gritted her teeth.

"Klaus should be dead. They should all be dead. We just killed Finn moments ago." She looked at Klaus, knowing he was listening, and watched his face sour at the news.

"He threatened Jeremy and forced me to unlink them, then I found out Damon was here and they won't let him go. I promised him the stakes in exchange for his freedom."

"You know about the stakes?"

"Caroline messaged me about them," Bonnie lied easily, and hopefully Caroline would corroborate that lie if she was ever asked about it for some reason. "And it's the only viable leverage we have to make him let Damon go."

The line was silent for a long moment. "Okay. I'll bring them."

She hung up and leveled Klaus with a glare. "Now tell her to stop."

Klaus walked over to the other room with Bonnie at his heels and entered to find Rebekah holding Damon's head up and staring straight into his eyes. Her fingers dug into his cheeks as she compelled him to tell her where they got the white oak stakes from and how many there were. Damon obediently answered.

"That's enough Rebekah. Apparently, they've killed Finn."

Pure shock passed over her features, and then she scowled as her gaze went to Bonnie. "I should torture the both of you for that."

With the way Rebekah looked at her, Bonnie steeled herself for a fight, but Klaus stepped in. "Leave Damon alone and Bonnie unharmed for now. Stefan has promised to turn over the stakes."

"Don't you care that they've killed our brother?"

Klaus shrugged. "Finn was an embarrassment."

Neither Bonnie nor Rebekah expected the nonchalance in that statement, but while Bonnie didn't care enough to have a reaction, Rebekah's face fell into a hurt expression. "How could you say that?"

When Klaus didn't answer, she stormed off in disbelief.

The hybrid let out an exasperated sigh and glanced at Bonnie and Damon. "You two are to remain here until Stefan arrives." Not waiting for a response, he followed after his sister.

His footsteps faded toward the other side of the mansion, leaving them alone. Damon was out of it from losing so much blood. His dark navy shirt hung open and fresh red rivulets ran down his chest. His eyes could barely focus on hers as she rushed to free him from the bear traps.

"Bonnie?"

"Hold on. Let me get you out of here."

His head lolled as he attempted to watch her release him. He was barely able to raise it. "Careful with those."

Having some experience with bear traps during her time as a huntress, she gingerly pried the heavy metal teeth open until his hand fell out, and then let the trap slam closed again. She did the same on the other side.

She tried to catch him, putting her arm under one of his, but he was too heavy and his weight had her sinking to the floor with him. She pushed him back into a seated position, keeping her arm under his so that he wouldn't fall over. He leaned heavily on her, but he was holding himself up enough that she was able to lean back a little and look at him.

His face was so pale it was nearly white. Every blink of his eyes was heavy, and even sitting up was taking him a lot of effort. Some of the blood from his chest smeared across her beige t-shirt, staining it red, but she didn't care.

She hated seeing him hurt like this, hated the way her heart felt like a wire was coiling around it and squeezing. There was no way she would be able to leave him in that state until Stefan came, not when she could fix it. What he needed was blood, and she doubted she would find any bags in the mansion nor did she think it would be a good idea to wander around and check. Her heart rate kicked up with what she was about to suggest as she unwrapped her arm from around him and began to roll her sweater's sleeve up. She held out her wrist in front of his mouth and his tired eyes snapped over to hers.

Her lips set in a determined line. "Drink."

Even with as little energy as he had, he looked at her as if she had grown another head. "No."

"Damon..."

"I..." his attention zeroed in on her wrist and he licked his lips. The veins beneath his eyes fluttered. "I don't trust myself to stop."

"I trust you. Now hurry up before they come back."

She brought her wrist closer to his lips and the hunger made him give in. Damon wrapped his larger hands around it, sliding them up to cup the back of her hand with his gaze locked on hers. There was a brief moment's hesitation where he inhaled deep to take in her scent, and then his eyes blackened, veins rose up fully beneath them, and he broke the skin of her wrist with his incisors.

She knew what to expect. In the future, Damon bit her quite often during sex and occasionally outside of it, so she knew how good it could feel, but this wasn't about that, and she only intended to give him a little. Still, she struggled to control her reaction. The pain was sharp at first, but it crawled through her forearm until it transformed into a familiar pleasurable tingly sensation as he licked and sucked at the wound, drawing her blood out. Gradually, those tingles spread throughout her body from where he drank, settling low in her stomach and kindling a fire between her legs. He groaned at the taste of her, growing more fervent with each passing second, and every brush of his tongue and groan that passed from his lips made it all worse.

As she tried to keep her breaths even, her other hand went to his shoulder to steady herself and she let it roam until she reached his neck and her fingers wove into the silky strands of his hair, ready to pull him off of her.

"Damon, that's enough," she said. The slashes across his chest and the injuries from the bear traps had finally healed.

He let go, running his tongue across his teeth. "A little more." He bit back down on her wrist, sliding his tongue along her skin, his adam's apple bobbing over and over as more of her blood slid down his throat. Beginning to feel a little lightheaded, she leaned into his side where she knelt beside him, and his arm wrapped low around her waist, holding her against him.

This was becoming much more of a slippery slope than she anticipated, and they slid further down that slope when he tightened his hold around her waist and her body twisted further into him, causing her to half sit on his thigh closest to her. The arm wrapped around her pulled her as close as possible to him, and he let go of her wrist to push her hair out of his way. Her freed hand went to his shoulder, and he pressed his fangs into the crook of her neck. Even though it felt good to be in his arms and she was desperately turned on from having him bite her, she remained aware of how dangerous it could be if she let him at her neck. Once again, her fingers tightened their grip in his hair to stop him. She pulled at the strands harder this time, and a soft grunt left his throat as his fangs scraped along the surface of her skin instead of piercing it. The sting made her gasp.

It was enough to make him pause, but then his mouth was back on her neck, and his tongue snaked out to lick up the little bit of blood welling up from the cuts he made with his fangs. His tongue traveled over one cut and then the other, soothing the sting, and she inhaled sharply, biting her lip and loosening her grip in his hair when she realized he wasn't going to bite her. He brushed his nose against the length of her neck and then pressed his mouth over the cut again in what felt more like a kiss than him trying to taste any more of her blood.

His lips trailed along her skin one last time, hovering over her racing pulse before he slowly raised his head. His cheek brushed against her jawline and when their eyes met, he licked his lips, looking like he wanted to devour her. She fixed his hair as she slowly let her fingers run down the back of his head until they were back on his shoulder. Sitting on his thigh, she ignored the pulsing need for friction that lingered between her legs, and they stared at one another. Could he see how wound up she was? His gaze flicked back to her neck where he scraped her with his fangs, then to her other arm where two little open wounds were. "You should drink some of mine."

Klaus and Rebekah would know what she had done when they saw Damon. She didn't, however, want any of the others to see the cuts on her neck or the bite marks on her arm.

When Bonnie didn't object, Damon took his arm from around her waist and nicked one of the veins near his wrist with a fang. With one hand still resting on his shoulder, Bonnie used her other to grab the back of his wrist and pressed her mouth to the cut. Damon's other hand went back to her waist as her tongue swiftly darted out to lick at the blood on his skin before the wound closed.

A tangy almost sweet taste filled her mouth, and the marks from his fangs healed like they were never there. Dropping his hand, she shifted back and perused his form. Color had returned to his cheeks, and she was satisfied that he looked far better than he did earlier.

The air between them charged when their eyes met again. His hand was burning a hole through her sweater while the hand of the wrist she'd drunk from had fallen atop her thigh and was running up the length of her black leggings. Yeah, she needed to put some distance between them immediately.

Pulling away from him, she used his shoulder to help herself rise to her feet. She stepped away from him a little dizzy but still steady on her feet. Damon stood as well. Briefly, he glanced down at her chest, and she glanced down as well to see her hardened nipples showing through her t-shirt. She wrapped her sweater around her, covering them.

"Why were you here?" Damon asked her. She was thankful he chose not to say anything about what just happened.

She sighed, knowing he would be upset. "Klaus had me unlink them."

He huffed towards the ceiling. "Great, so that means today's plan went completely down the drain then."

"You know he gave me no choice."

His eyes snapped towards hers. "I'm not blaming you."

"At least one of them is dead though and we know we can kill them."

"Except once Stefan arrives, we're going to lose our only means of killing them. So we're back to square one."

"We'll figure something out," Bonnie reassured.

Klaus didn't return until Stefan arrived sometime later. Damon toyed with the idea of walking out of there, but Bonnie was too worried about Klaus's retaliation and convinced him to stay.

Eventually, a car pulled up outside and Stefan walked into the mansion moments later. Bonnie and Damon joined Klaus, Stefan, and Rebekah in the foyer. Rebekah took in Damon's appearance and arched an eyebrow at Bonnie while Stefan handed over the duffel bag of stakes. Bonnie avoided her gaze.

"Here. The last eight weapons that can kill you," Stefan said.

Klaus counted them. "How many are there supposed to be?" The question was directed at his sister.

"According to Damon, eleven. You really shouldn't have lied, Stefan. Your brother's already been bled and compelled."

Stefan frowned. "I'll get you the other three."

Klaus's gaze darkened. "Yeah, that'll be nice. Or since you tried to lie, maybe I'll compel your brother to chew out his own tongue."

In the blink of an eye, some unknown signal passed between the two brothers, and they moved in sync. Stefan pulled another stake from his jacket and attacked Klaus while Damon went for a stake from the bag and came after Rebekah. Bonnie used magic to give her an aneurysm, but she was holding her own against it and had thrown Damon to the ground before falling to her knees with her hands clutching her head. Meanwhile, Stefan had Klaus against the wall, but Klaus caught Stefan's wrist before the stake could reach his heart.

Overpowered, Stefan allowed Klaus to take the stake from him. "Stop," he looked pointedly at Bonnie and Damon. He held the stake up to Stefan's heart.

Bonnie dropped her spell, and Damon didn't move.

Once she got her bearings, Rebekah glared at the two of them and snarled.

"Relax, sister," Klaus said before Rebekah could retaliate. "They still plan to hold up their end of the deal, don't you Stefan?"

Stefan's expression flattened, but he nodded.

Klaus looked between the stake in his hand and the one that Damon tossed back in the duffel bag pile with a scowl. "Now you only have to get me the other two."

"Take them as a sign of good faith," Stefan said as if he hadn't just tried to kill Klaus. The original hybrid appeared already over the incident. He'd probably been expecting Stefan to try something. Or maybe he still had a soft spot for his old friend.

"And if you fail to bring them to me, I will wage a war against everyone you love. I hope I'm being clear."

Of course it was a given that he would leave them with another threat, though the whole do as I say or I'm going to kill everyone thing was getting kind of old.

They met back up at the boarding house. Bonnie debated on staying the night while Damon went to get cleaned up. Walking over to the liquor cabinet, she pulled out her usual and poured herself two fingers of bourbon. The liquid slid down her throat, and she already felt more relaxed. Two more sips later Stefan walked into the living room and told her he called Elena who apparently had one of the stakes. She was already on her way back over.

That was Bonnie's cue to leave. She should probably take a break from staying over and go home for once anyway.

Stefan watched her curiously as she downed the rest of her drink and went to clean out her glass. She took a minute or two to wash and dry it, and leaving things the way she found them, she grabbed her purse that she had placed on the counter when she came in, pulling it across her shoulder.

"Let me know if I'm needed," she said to Stefan. He inclined his head, and she left, closing the front door behind her.

As she opened her car door, Damon came outside. "Wait."

He must have used his vampire speed to shower and change. His hair was still damp, and he wore a fresh black shirt and pair of jeans. The heady cedar smell of him filled her nose. Discreetly, she took a deep breath as he stopped in front of her. "What is it?"

The sun had long set and the lighting was dim outside with only the front porch on. His face was half shrouded in darkness and the other half painted golden by the porch light's warm glow. "I…appreciate what you did earlier. Seeing as the last time when you were possessed by Emily was not exactly a pleasurable experience, I never would have expected you to offer that."

"I don't like seeing those I...consider my friends suffering, even if we aren't on the best terms right now."

"Well if you ever feel generous enough to-" He started the statement innocently, but it was obvious where it was going and she cut him off.

"Damon, if you're somehow hoping I'll offer you my blood again just because it didn't exactly feel horrible this time, then keep hoping because it's not happening. That was a one time thing." Bonnie leaned against the back door of her car, folding her arms across her chest.

"So even if I was about to die right now and your blood was the only thing that would save me, you wouldn't give me a single drop?"

The answer to that was obvious. She would do it again in a heartbeat if he truly needed, and he read it on her face.

The corner of his mouth lifted up. "Aww, you really do still care. Warms my cold dead heart."

"If I didn't, I would've left you there. What did you do to Rebekah that made her so mad in the first place anyway?" Bonnie was curious to hear his answer even though she already had an idea of what he'd done.

"I might have strung her along and had a threesome with her and Sage so we could manipulate her for some info on what she was snooping around for a while back."

"Of course you did." Bonnie expected him to say something like that and tried not to have too much of a reaction to that information but hearing that he had been with other women made her want to break something or set something on fire.

He shrugged. "You gotta do what you gotta do for the greater good."

She rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Like you didn't enjoy yourself."

His brow quirked up. "Upset you weren't invited?"

Her lips twisted in disgust. "In what world would I want to have a threesome with you?"

"Not the type to share?"

"No, but that's not what I meant."

"Hm, so the little witch is possessive then," he said as if it were a fact he was cataloging about her.

"Alright, I'm going home." She stepped towards him, not caring if he moved out of her way. Her shoulder brushed up against his chest as she put one foot in the car, but his arm shot out, blocking her.

He drew his hand up towards her face, and reached towards her forehead, brushing a strand of hair from her face. The tip of his thumb skimmed against her temple, and she nearly leaned into the little touch. "No more headaches?" he asked, his tone gentler than usual. Remembering herself, she swatted his hand away after a second too long.

"I've been fine, Damon." Her eyes moved from his to the arm between her and her open car door. "Please move."

The sound of a car pulling up distracted both of them, but Damon didn't move even as Elena pulled to a stop behind Bonnie's car.

It was when she stepped out that Damon finally moved his arm. Bonnie watched Elena approach them, looking between the two of them. Worry and an unsure look were on her face as she focused on Bonnie. Elena scanned her for any sign of injury and then did the same to Damon. "Hey Bonnie, Damon, Stefan told me what happened. Are you guys okay?"

"I'm fine," Bonnie said.

Damon snorted. "Aside from being tortured, I'm just peachy."

"Do you mind if I talk to Bonnie for a second?" Elena asked Damon.

With one final look at Bonnie, he left the two of them alone and went back inside.

Elena's gaze followed him to the door. "Everything alright there?" she asked, referring to her and Damon. Bonnie wasn't sure how it looked from where Elena stood, but it wasn't normal for her and Damon to be talking much in her eyes.

"It's fine. He was just…," she shook her head "Never mind. It's not important."

Elena frowned. "Okay, but are you really alright after everything that happened today?" she asked after Damon closed the door.

"Yes, Elena. Klaus didn't do anything but threaten me."

"That's good, I guess, well not good, but I'm glad he didn't hurt you." She stepped closer. "I've been meaning to say this, but I miss you. It feels like we don't talk anymore."

"It's just been a lot, and everything is crazy right now. Maybe when this whole mess is over, things can go back to normal."

"Yeah." She wrapped her arms around herself. "I'll see you around?"

Bonnie nodded, and they parted ways. Sliding into her car, she pulled off to head home. Let them deal with getting the last stake from Alaric and whatever else was to come for a few days.

A/N:

Thanks for reading, and I appreciate all the comments and reviews! Also, shoutout to anyone who doesn't leave comments and is silently reading and hopefully enjoying the story. I appreciate y'all too!

Chapter title from "I Dare You" by The xx.