The strange thing was that Damon didn't feel at all bad for sleeping with Enzo the previous night-or any of the times since. Even though he was technically still with Elena, he hadn't thought of her once-a sharp contrast to before he'd died, when she'd been pretty much all he could think about.
Even stranger was the fact that he had killed someone for the first time in ages the same night and he didn't feel the slightest bit of guilt for that, either. He knew it was wrong, that he should feel bad-three months ago, he would have-but, even now, standing over yet another body, he didn't. In fact, he felt quite the opposite; he felt exhilarated.
Part of that was most likely due to the fact that he wasn't alone. Enzo was there in front of him, mouth twisted in a dark smile and drenched in crimson-just like Damon's was, and, when Damon looked at him, he felt something that could only be described as desire stirring inside him.
He tugged the younger vampire toward him, letting out a half-groan, half-growl when instead of just kissing him, Enzo ran his tongue over Damon's lips, lapping at the blood still dripping off them with deliberate slowness.
A rush of combined heat and cold rushed through Damon's body-another thing that had never happened before he'd died and come back to life again. He'd never felt anything like that before, and his nails dug into Enzo's hips as he pressed in close, wrapping his tongue around Enzo's.
Enzo let out a groan of his own as Damon took control, and he let him, sucking his tongue further inside.
Another shiver of cold ran though Damon-and that was really made him realize that something was off. Because it wasn't a physical coldness-that would be normal. No, this was more of an emotional one.
Actually, it kind of reminded him of the sensation he usually got when his humanity was off; except this seemed to only be freezing out certain emotions, like his love for Elena and the guilt he usually felt for killing humans-and whatever had previously stopped him from doing what he was doing now.
He wasn't complaining, of course-he was actually quite enjoying the vacation from all that self-reprehension-but he was rather curious to know what exactly was causing this.
A second later, as if prompted by his thoughts, and as Enzo was slipping a hand underneath his jacket, they were interrupted by the sound of Enzo's cellphone buzzing.
Enzo stopped what he was doing, letting out a low, irritated noise before pulling away from Damon enough so he could withdraw the device from his pocket and see who was contacting him.
Damon peered at the screen as well, seeing a complex 12-digit number displayed there. It wasn't a number he recognized-but Enzo answered it, anyways.
"Yes?" the younger vampire said by way of a greeting. Being a vampire, Damon was able to hear the response when it came.
"It's Jo," a female voice answered; Damon didn't recognize the voice, either-but, apparently, Enzo did, because his expression changed into a more serious one as she continued. "I thought, now that he's had a few days to settle in, you might be able to introduce me to your friend. I'd really like to meet him."
Enzo paused, eyes shifting to Damon, who shook his head in a negative. He hadn't exactly had the best encounters with witches recently.
Enzo exhaled heavily, lowering the phone and, instead of actually asking the question, went right into arguing in favour of her request. "She's the witch that helped bring you back. I think we at least owe her a conversation for that."
That made Damon rethink his declination; he hadn't known that.
"Oh," he said in realization. "Well, in that case, I'd like to meet her, too. Set it up."
Enzo inclined his head before lifting the phone back up to his ear and replying. "Where and when?"
There was another pause before Jo told him. "Tomorrow, 11 am, the Canyon diner."
Enzo shot Damon another look to confirm that he wanted to do this; when Damon indicated the affirmative, so did he. "We'll be there," he agreed.
Though Jo came to the table alone the next morning, Damon could tell that she hadn't arrived that way. There were some familiar faces watching them from other parts of the restaurant-the witch, Liv, and her brother, Luke-but Damon didn't acknowledge them. He wanted to see how this meeting would go first.
"You must be the famous Damon Salvatore," the dark-haired woman said, a smile on her glossy lips as she sat down across from Damon at the table.
"I am," Damon confirmed, his pale face unreadable as he surveyed the witch from his seat. "And you must be Jo. I hear you're the witch I have to thank for my return to the land of the living."
Jo waved a careless hand. "I just provided the spell; your friend here did all of the hard work-including what your brother should have been doing."
Damon raised an eyebrow at that last part, and he deviated from his planned line of enquiry, wanting to know what she meant. "What are you talking about?"
Jo's smile widened to show her teeth.
"He didn't tell you?" she queried with what could almost be described as amusement. Damon felt Enzo shift beside him, as if uncomfortable with the subject, and, curious as to why, Damon shook his head, prompting Jo to elaborate.
"We needed your brother's blood for the spell, and, when Enzo went to get it, he found your brother not looking for you like everyone thought he was, but shacked up with some girl and acting like you didn't even exist."
Damon's other eyebrow rose to join the first. Well, that definitely wasn't what he'd expected to hear; Enzo had still been searching for him when even his own brother had given up.
He knew he should feel hurt by that, but instead all he felt was the same strange coldness from earlier, freezing out the pain-but not his interest in why Jo had helped resurrect him.
"So, my own brother didn't even try to bring me back; why did you?" he queried shrewdly, changing the subject. "Normally witches don't do anything for vampires unless there's something in it for them, or they're being threatened. Enzo tells me you came to him, so he didn't force you, which means you want something. What is it? What's your interest in me?"
Jo paused, inhaling deeply before responding. "Well, I'm not just a witch-and you're not just a vampire."
Damon didn't know what to say to that-so Enzo spoke for him.
"What do you mean by that?" the younger vampire asked, folding his arms across his chest.
Jo's smile finally dropped into a more serious, thoughtful expression as she considered how best to answer that. It was difficult and more complicated than could be put into simple words, but, after another long pause, she figured it out.
"There's a reason why your consciousness didn't just end when the Other side was destroyed," she started, laying her hands flat on the table top and chewing on her lower lip. "Though you are still a supernatural being, you are actually not like any the world has ever seen before."
Damon couldn't help but feel a little exasperated at the cryptic statement; it was just like a witch to be this vague. Getting a straight answer from this woman was starting to feel like pulling teeth.
"Care to be a little more specific?" he prodded, finally finding his voice again.
"It means you have powers that go far beyond that of a vampire-and they were awakened by your second death," the sorceress explained matter-of-factly, meeting Damon's narrowed gaze without blinking. "Surely you've noticed a change since you came back?"
When both vampires' expressions remained blank, and neither of them spoke, Jo decided to try a different tack. "Give me your hand," she requested, holding out one of her own.
Damon raised his eyebrows again, feeling a sense of immense scepticism, but he still complied.
He watched as Jo gripped his wrist, turning his hand over so his palm was facing downward and hers was underneath.
"Now, close your eyes and concentrate," she instructed, looking at him with intense focus.
Damon cocked his head to the side, his bemusement growing. "On what?" he queried.
The sorceress' smile returned. "On whatever makes you feel strong."
A crease appeared between Damon's brows at the abstract direction. That didn't really help, but, sensing that he wasn't going to get a more explicit one, he followed it to the best of his understanding, letting his eyes slip shut and focusing his mind.
What made him strong? Before coming back from the dead-the most recent time-his thoughts most likely would have gone to Elena-but that wasn't where they went now.
Instead, they turned to the vampire next to him, remembering those five years in Augustine together and seeing him standing there when he'd woken up in that church a few nights ago. And, when his mind focused on those memories, something began to stir.
It was the coldness again-only this time, it was stronger, like a wave of pure ice rushing through his veins. And, instead of just freezing out his feelings, it invigorated his senses in a way that went beyond anything that came from being a vampire.
"Damon," Enzo touched his shoulder, and the elder Salvatore opened his eyes to find that the ice wasn't just inside him anymore-it was outside, too.
Frost was bleeding out of his hand, spreading up his arm and covering his hand like some kind of bizarre glove. More than that, ice was outlining his veins, highlighting them in electric-blue-the same shade as his suddenly glowing eyes.
He probably should have been shocked, but, just like with a lot of other things, he didn't feel it. He just felt…untouchable.
He turned his hand around again, and ice burst from his palm like a fireball, making him blink. Now that was something new.
"This is your true power, Damon," Jo declared in a hushed voice, noting the obvious awe on Enzo's olive-skinned face. "This is why the Gemini coven wanted you back in the land of the living."
Enzo gripped Damon's shoulder tightly, staring wide-eyed at the other vampire's arm. He couldn't believe his eyes; those were definitely not regular vampire powers. No, those were something else entirely.
"What am I?" Damon asked, his tone and features strangely empty as he rolled his sleeve up to examine his now-frost-covered arm more closely.
The sorceress lifted her shoulders in a shrug. "There isn't a name for what you are because, as far as we can tell, you are the only one."
"And you want to use me somehow because of that, don't you?" Damon finished for her, piercing her with a steely glare. "That's the real reason you helped Enzo bring me back."
"I would appreciate it if you and your friend would do me and my coven a favour," Jo corrected him. "But I won't force you. The choice is yours."
Enzo and Damon shared a brief, contemplative look; neither of them really believed that Jo was really giving them a choice of whether or not to help her. However, she so far hadn't given them a reason not to trust her, so they decided to hear her out.
"And what might this favour be?" Enzo questioned.
Jo's expression turned wry. "You actually might like this one; we need you to capture a specific vampire and hold him for us," she stated, withdrawing her phone from her pocket and opening it to a photo of the aforementioned vampire to show Damon.
The elder Salvatore's pale features stayed completely neutral at the sight of his brother's face; he felt no sense of protectiveness or reluctance to do what Jo wanted-only a mild curiosity of why she wanted it in the first place.
"What do you want from Stefan?" Damon questioned, his tone as bland as his gaze.
Jo cast a look over her shoulder at the blonde witch in the corner, as if asking how much she should-or could-tell them.
"He is integral to a spell we need to perform-and I thought, since he's your brother, it might be less conspicuous for you to grab him," she explained. "But, just so you know, my initial reason for helping to bring you back was really only simple curiosity. I was interested in your strength, and I could see it in action while you were trapped in oblivion. So, you don't owe me anything; if you don't want to do this, I won't push you. I'm not that kind of girl."
Damon jerked his chin in the direction of her ill-concealed companions. "What about the rest of your coven? They won't be coming after us to collect on your debt if we decide not to help?"
Jo shook her head. "You have my word: this is a completely optional favour. There will be no repercussions if you refuse."
Damon turned his gaze to Enzo again. "What do you think?" he questioned.
The younger vampire had to force himself not to just agree outright; he'd resolved not to tell Damon what had gone down between him and Stefan, and he didn't want to give away any more than Jo already had. Fortunately, Damon already knew he wasn't very fond of Stefan before now, so he didn't have to disagree, either.
"Personally, I think Stefan deserves a taste of what it was like for us in Augustine," he stated bluntly. "But, he's your brother, so whatever you want to do, I'll go along with."
Damon cocked his head to the side, considering it-though he knew he shouldn't be. Stefan was still his brother, whatever he had done-or not done-in the past. Yet, for some reason, Damon didn't feel the need to keep him safe. He didn't even feel the need to get more specifics on what the witches were going to do to him for their spell; after a beat, he just nodded.
"I'll do it," he consented.
Jo didn't even try to hide her pleasure at his concurrence.
"Excellent," she said, eyes gleaming. She pulled out a slip of paper from her pocket and held it out to the two vampires. "Once you have him, take him here; it has all the proper restraints for a normal vampire."
Damon took the piece of paper from her and tucked it into his jacket. "We'll let you know when we have him," he stated, getting to his feet.
Jo inclined her head, first to her companion, then to the elder Salvatore. "I'll look forward to it," she replied by way of a goodbye, standing up as well and then departing with the two blonde witches close at her heels.
When they were outside the restaurant, too, Damon reached out, closing his hand around Enzo's arm and stopping him in his tracks.
"I didn't want to interrupt my conversation with the witch while we were in there; but now that we're out, what happened between you and Stefan?" the elder vampire wondered, sounding, not accusatory, but merely inquisitive.
Enzo let out a soft, soundless breath. He'd known this was coming; he'd known Damon would be able to miss the tension in him when Jo had brought up Stefan.
"I found him playing house with some tart when everyone thought he was looking for you," he admitted, still feeling a flicker anger at the memory. "I was angry at him for giving up so I…I snapped his girlfriend's neck and told him that I was going to be the one to give him the eternity of misery you once promised him."
Considering how different Damon had been acting since he'd gotten back, and what they'd just found out, Enzo didn't know how he expected Damon to react to his confession-but the way he did was the complete opposite of what he would have expected three months ago.
The corners of Damon's pale mouth twitched slightly.
"Well, I think your new witch friend just gave us the perfect opportunity to make good on that promise," he said, voice strangely cool.
Enzo arched an eyebrow. "Us?" he repeated with no small amount of surprise.
Damon's upper lip curled. "Mm-hmm," he confirmed. "So, where is my darling brother, anyways?"
Enzo couldn't stop his own lips from twisting into a cruel smile at the knowledge that Damon wanted to help him make his brother suffer. "Savannah," he stated, now with a hint of eagerness in his tone.
Damon cracked his knuckles.
"Let's go give him the family reunion he never expected," he declared malevolently, eyes glittering like shards of ice beneath his ebony lashes.