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The wind swept in through the window as Caroline drove, sending her hair into a frenzied spiral. If she were headed to Portland for any other reason but that urgent research, she'd have enjoyed the road trip.
At some point after driving a dozen miles away from Mystic Falls, she cut Enzo's ties and allowed him to claim shotgun.
"I hope you understand it's in your best interest to behave," she warned, to which he gave a jocular scoff.
"Hope you remember how counter-productive it is to threaten me, love. So, care to share where we're going? I mean, I should be interested in all that if you want my help."
"Who said I needed help?" It was her turn to scoff. "Maybe I just wanted to keep you away from Lily and the house."
The playful expression slowly seeped off his face; he turned to look through the side window. "I don't approve of the state you keep her in — we all know how painful it is. But… I understand she's unable to be responsible for her actions anymore. Not until she gets that family back… if she does." He turned to regard her. "Think they're alive somewhere?"
Caroline sighed, quickly considering her options. "I think we really lack the information," she opted for elusion. "And Lily's opinion is all rainbows and unicorns. None of us believes she's competent to judge. I mean, she's a ripper, and her opinion of them can be one-sided. They could be all fluffy and good to her, but monsters to everyone else, and in that case we can't have them run around killing people and our friends."
Enzo pinched his lips, flicking his eyebrows in ironic reaction. Of course they would want to be heroes, and yet let Damon do whatever he pleased. Stefan, too. Hypocrisy at its best. Not that he wanted to voice it now. He didn't aim to bail out on the Blondie just yet. This could be interesting.
"So what is this trip about?" he asked. "You know someone who can give you an honest and adequate opinion on them?"
"I know a place we could look," she said. "They were outcasts of Gemini coven. Kai's coven. We'll have to search their house for any information there can be."
"I see," he sneered. "Breaking and entering. Heroic indeed. Where's that house?"
"Portland, Oregon." She turned and gave him a tight smile. "Hope you're not a restless flyer."
He smirked, "Depends on the company."
After an hour and a half, Caroline pulled over at the Chickahominy Water Trail and put the car into neutral, turning off the engine, nibbling on a chocolate bar she'd bought at the gas station convenience store.
She pulled the trunk release, hopped out of the Camaro and moved to the back to collect two blood bags from the cooler. Thankfully, where they were parked the bridge obscured them from view. Tossing them into the passenger seat, she gave him a smile.
"Care to eat? It's going to be a long trip."
He narrowed his eyes at her with a cunning challenge. "Scared I might rip into someone's neck in public?"
"I'd like to do without that show, thank you."
"Good thinking," he grinned, opening the pack. "And they say blondes can't think." He began drinking, first hungrily, then pacing himself.
She grimaced in mock reprimand. "Your special brand of praise is so lovely. Not."
"Sorry, doll, you caught me hungry and unprepared for courting." He took another pack. "I'll do better."
Caroline smirked, shaking her head, and pulled from the curb to head for the airport.
They stuck to small conversation in public, and while on the plane, Enzo surprised her by taking a nap. When they were driving in a rented Hundai and Caroline kept checking with the map spread on Enzo's lap, he asked, "Have you asked Bonnie about the Heretics? She sure as hell knows more since Kai woulda told her."
"We're not on speaking terms at the moment," Caroline said, swallowing softly as if the idea of being forced to be away from Bonnie again hurt her. And it did. Deeply. "It's a… safety thing. She didn't know much. Not beyond what we all know. Which is nothing. Just that they're witchpires."
"Pardon me… witchpires?"
"Yeah," Caroline said, assuming that Lily had at least told him that much. She guessed not. "Like they're vampires—and witches."
Enzo stared at her, dumbfounded. "It's bloody impossible."
"It's very possible. Kai's one too." He didn't know that either? What had Lily told him? If anything. "Your savior didn't tell you that?"
He frowned. "I didn't think about it. I thought he was one kind of a freak. I mean, I can see why you're all running scared. Six times Kai would scare anyone. I wouldn't want them as enemies."
Relief washed through her at his revelation. If he could see the threat they were facing, then she had more reason to trust he was in trouble too. "Why did she never talk to you about them? You weren't curious?"
"She kept saying the same things she told you — that they saved her and they became family, that she can't live without them. That they're outcasts like she is. Like I am. That we all belong together."
"You believe that? That you all belong together?"
He gave her a scornful glance. "You wouldn't ask that question if you were in my position."
"What's your position?"
He rolled his eyes, getting angry at her dense attitude. "I've been all alone my whole very long life, Caroline. You wouldn't know what it's like. Let's leave it at that."
"And did I not try to help with that? Did I not make an effort? No one asked you to betray us. To betray me," Caroline snipped, getting angry herself. She knew that she wasn't Damon and that he'd been fixated on trying to get his friend back, but she had put her best foot forward on multiple occasions and he always ended up making her regret it in some way. "I know you're looking for family, I know you feel alone, but don't you think you're looking in all the wrong places?"
He winced, raising a stopping hand. "Don't tell me your precious Stefan is the right place. That one can't do wrong. I'm bloody tired of hearing it. So let's just not go there, shall we?"
Caroline narrowed her eyes, wondering if he even remembered he was the one to start the feud between himself and Stefan. If he hadn't killed Ivy and promised to destroy Stefan's life, none of the other bullshit would even have happened. She chose to do as he asked for the sake of keeping peace. "Are you scared of the Heretics?"
"I can't be scared of what I haven't seen," he reasoned. "Who knows, maybe they're nice fellas. Look at your Bonnie gal: she's off with her freaky prince and she didn't even hesitate to choose him over you. That should probably tell me something."
"She didn't hesitate. She didn't have a choice," Caroline stated, defending the action even if she'd wondered about it herself. She knew why Bonnie had gone: she was in pain, he'd rescued her; but why did she let him drag her away entirely? Why was she even listening to his half-baked ideas? "Do you really believe that they're that nice? That they were placed in the prison world just because? Emphasis on the word prison."
He shrugged, "You'd put me and Damon in a prison in a heartbeat, dove. And witches and their covens — those are a very entitled bunch. Why would I trust their judgment? Gotta see for myself."
"Damon deserves a prison," Caroline retorted. Enzo — she wasn't too happy with his loyalty jumping. She had done her best to develop some kind of understanding, and clearly it was still there beneath the surface, but it never seemed to move to a point where she could trust him. She did agree with him though. At least a little. It's not that Kai was an entirely good guy either. "Lily's a ripper. If they're anything like her, like what I saw a day ago, then you've to know on some deeper level that the witches are justified."
"If Kai's not a ripper, then why do you think they can be? I somehow doubt that they could offer Lily any help if they didn't know how to battle the urges themselves."
"I never said they were. I'm saying they're as bad. You saw her the day before. She didn't even have her humanity off. What she did to Bonnie was brutal." She shuddered at the thought, still hearing her friend's screams in her mind. It wasn't something she'd be able to forget anytime soon.
"She was desperate and none of you gave her answers." Enzo directed a squinted daring look her way. "Tell me you wouldn't go bonkers on anyone who wouldn't tell you where Bonnie or Stefan or your mom were kept? Remember your mom getting snatched? How humanely would you treat those kidnappers if they wouldn't tell you where they had her and if she was even alive?"
"I would have ripped their hearts out," Caroline retorted, shrugging. "As much as I can sympathize and even understand that part of her concern, the fact is that Bonnie isn't some random hunter kidnapper guy. She's Bonnie. Lily hurt someone that I hold dear and that's unacceptable."
"Bonnie was to Lily what those kidnappers were to you — a source of information, the only source at that."
"She could have tried any other way but the one she chose," Caroline stated, unwilling to budge. "She stuck to only one option because she doesn't like Bonnie."
"Right," he snorted. "You just said yourself you'd rip their hearts out. Think Lily should've done the same? So stop it there. Broken bones can be mended. And you should thank Lily for not doing what you would have done."
Caroline dropped the conversation, deciding to focus on the robotic female voice spitting out directions as she drove, guiding her the last few miles onto a dirt path and toward a house in the middle of a huge perfectly manicured clearing. There wasn't any cars parked out front and from what she could see as she slowed the car to a crawl, the curtains had been drawn.
"It looks nothing like I imagined," Caroline said, turning off the engine, hoping out of the rental to stretch her legs and strain her ears to listen inside the house. She didn't pick up heartbeats or sounds of a radio or TV.
She slowly started across the lawn, heading for the porch steps when her phone started to ring. She frowned at the unknown number, but didn't hesitate to answer.
"Yes?"
"Caroline! Hi!" Bonnie chirped, happy, lighthearted and like she hadn't been running for her life or tortured less than two days ago.
"Bonnie?! Oh my God, I thought—why… are you okay?"
"More than okay," Bonnie answered. "I just wanted to check in with you and make sure you're okay."
"I am," Caroline said, her voice taking on a concerned note. "Where are you? Are you… healed? You sound a little off."
"Just high—"
"You've been doing drugs?!"
"No," Bonnie said, laughing softly across the line. "I've been drinking. I had the most amazing night to make up for one of the worst days of my life."
"You did?" Caroline pressed, her brows furrowing, moving away from Enzo for some privacy although she knew he could easily eavesdrop.
"You wouldn't believe it if I told you," Bonnie stated, sounding wistful.
"I hope you will soon," Caroline said.
"Me too," Bonnie replied. "Um… how's Damon?"
Caroline filled her in on the state of his arrest and the fact that Lily was still desiccating, going on to assure her that they had no immediate plans to let them go yet.
"That's great," Bonnie said, her voice having lost some of its earlier spark.
"Bonnie?" Caroline asked, her voice tentative and concerned, struggling to broach the next subject. "Is— What's the deal between you and Kai?"
"What do you mean? You know…"
"See, that's the thing," Caroline began, her voice becoming lower as if she wished to whisper. "I thought I did. It seemed pretty simple, but uh, it's starting to sound a bit complicated."
"It is—I mean, it's been complicated from the go…"
"Are you two having sex?" Caroline blurted, nibbling her lower lip, wishing she could have phrased that any other way. She could feel Enzo's eyes burning into her, and when she looked back, he was smirking. 'Jackass,' she mouthed.
The line on Bonnie's side went quiet, worrying Caroline that the call had been disconnected.
"Yes, we are. Did," Bonnie answered, voice low and unsure, as if she too was trying to keep from being heard. More silence ensued between them, neither knowing what to say next. Caroline hadn't imagined it being possible and Bonnie hadn't thought that she'd ever admit it to anyone. She didn't want anyone knowing. At least not yet. She didn't know how to explain what had happened or how she was feeling about it, all she knew was that it made her feel good.
"Can you trust him?" Caroline asked.
"He saved me, Caroline," Bonnie stated, her tone becoming a bit brisk.
"I know, I— that's not— … You do remember that beneath all that handsome is a psycho, right?"
"I think I misjudged him on certain—"
"You're kidding me!" Caroline interjected. "He killed his entire coven. He tried to kill you. What about Elena? About the spell? Jo?"
"I'm sorry about those things, I—I would have preferred they hadn't happened, but I can't do anything about them now. I only have enough energy to focus on our current problem. On the Heretics."
"He knows where they are, Bonnie!" Caroline retorted.
"I know," Bonnie answered again, surprising Caroline.
"What do you mean you know?"
"I mean, it's as I told you – the spell is weakening on the cloak he has wrapped them in. This is why you need to take Stefan and leave Mystic Falls. Protect yourself. You don't need to get involved."
"You're involved, I'm involved," Caroline stated firmly. "And what about Mystic Falls?"
"I've given a lot to Mystic Falls," Bonnie said, her voice becoming a bit dreamy and sad. "I don't have the strength to give anymore right now. I'm— I'm trying to be safe. I'm trying to focus on myself."
"And him," Caroline added.
"He deserves the chance I never gave him," Bonnie argued.
"But at what cost?" Caroline asked. There was another long pause, one that made Caroline think she'd probably said the wrong thing and that she was losing her best friend. "I'm not trying to hurt you, you know I'd support you through anything," Caroline continued, voice softening. "I'm just worried about you, about what's going on. This isn't like you."
"That's the thing, Caroline, I don't even know who I am anymore. For the first time—in as many years—I finally feel like I'm getting to know more of myself, to explore things that I was too afraid of before."
"But with him?"
Bonnie laughed softly.
"Believe it or not, he is helping me."
"I do believe it. I've seen it. But to what aim? What's he getting from it? What game is he playing?"
"I don't think he is playing a game. Not anymore. I think… no, I know, we're both after the same thing." Before Caroline could ask, Bonnie added, "Freedom."
Caroline could hear the optimism and hope in Bonnie's voice, and as hard as she was trying to believe that was what Kai was after, something continued to gnaw at her.
"I got to go now," Bonnie said, sensing that Caroline wanted to talk about the subject some more.
"When will you call again?"
"I'm not sure," Bonnie added. There was a hard rush of wind across the line as Bonnie either moved or twisted into it to look at something, she was starting to move somewhere. "I'll try to call you again soon."
"I love you," Caroline said, before Bonnie could hang up.
"I love you too."
The line went dead and Caroline stood staring at the phone, absorbing everything she'd been told, and pocketed the phone, slowly moving back toward the house where Enzo had been loitering not even bothering to pretend like he hadn't been listening to every word.
"I don't want to hear it," Caroline snipped as she ambled past him, entering the house with ease.
"You already have," Enzo grinned, following her inside.
Leaning against the hood of the car nonchalantly, his arms folded, Kai watched Bonnie finish her call, look down at the cell phone, her thumb brushing the screen with a melancholic smile. He could bet she had teary eyes — and she turned towards the ocean with her back to him, letting the morning breeze caress her face for a bit before she finally strolled towards him.
"Feeling better?" he asked with a barely-there smile.
"Much," Bonnie quipped, flashing him a genuine smile. The call with Caroline had been bittersweet. She studied his features, drinking him in, trying to compare what Caroline had insinuated, what Bonnie believed she knew in the past and what she knew about him now.
"You must be tired. You haven't slept," she said, inching toward him. "Should we find a hotel?"
"Not really. I guess I'm not tiring as humans do, which is good, actually. If you're hungry, we can find a nice place to dine, or just fly back and dine there." He glanced at the ocean over her shoulder, pensive. "And then, say… go to the desert, get some basic tricks polished."
At first, she convinced herself he said dessert and tricks.
"I'm not hungry," Bonnie said refraining from adding 'for anything but you'. The sex was good, great, even, but there was something more, something else that she wanted to chase that he provided and she was beginning to get addicted to. If Caroline had asked her to explain herself, she wouldn't have been able to. "We should probably fly back. The sooner we get busy with those tricks the better." She couldn't stay in the fairytale forever.
He brought his hands to her face, stroking his thumbs over her cheeks, feeling his magic sensors tingling, heating up. "Don't treat it as work, as do-or-die thing like you go for every mission to save your friends. You pressure yourself too hard and then you can't withstand it. Take it easier. It's not a rush. It's just fun training."
"Fun," Bonnie echoed, wishing she could get herself to think of using her magic that way. The casino had been fun. Different. Despite the spin he'd put on it, she knew it was a pre-training for war. She wanted to lean further into his touch, to let him take her worries away, but instead she tapered it down, reaching up to take his hands, guiding him back to the car so they could start heading for the airport. "Then let's take a slow drive back."
He stopped, drawing her to him, and leaned in for a kiss, his arms wrapping around her.
She looped her arms around his neck, returning his kiss, drawing herself flush against him, her wet dress soaking into his front a little.
He drew back and gave her a humorous grin. "Don't stress, Bon. You're not alone in this. You're not alone anymore."
Tears gathered in her eyes before she even understood why. She'd been so alone for so long and then once she returned things with Damon weren't the same anymore, it was as if the time they had in 1994 hadn't existed. As if he couldn't remember who she was and what they meant to one another. She'd counted on him then, she'd thought she could count on him now and yet her support was coming from someone she'd condemned. She wondered what that said about her, about what had happened to her in the past and why she'd always been so weak. "Thank you," she murmured for what felt like the hundredth time, hoping that the words wouldn't lose their meaning. She meant it. She meant it more than he could know. She allowed herself to smile, to continue tugging him toward the car. "Since you flew us here, maybe I should fly us back."
He threw his head back laughing.
"Tell you what, Banzai: if you could actually survive any outcome, I'd happily watch you do it."
"If I had a broom," Bonnie murmured jokingly, gifting him a wink, "we wouldn't have to worry about that at all."
He squinted at her daringly as they settled in the car. "If I give you a broom, you'll know what to do with it?"
"No, I've never tried. Have you? I mean, I feel like we should, don't you?" Bonnie asked, her lips quirking playfully.
He pulled from the curb, chuckling. "I'll take you to desert, and you can do anything you want there. Your imagination is the limit."
"Don't suppose there will be any roofs to jump off around there and I'm not so daring to try a cliff," Bonnie mused, rolling down her window so she could continue to suck the fresh sea air smell. She'd miss it. Perhaps she should think about moving to the ocean once she was able to settle down? She didn't think Mystic Falls was for her anymore. Not in the long run. There was too much for her to see.
She keep watching the ocean until it disappeared, taking note of the things she would like to visit at a later date as they drove back to the airport.
When they took off, they made a wider loop to fly over the ocean before taking the turn back towards Nevada.
"Thinking of moving to LA?" Kai teased as the carpet of water disappeared from beneath them.
"It's like you read my mind," Bonnie mused, still smiling. She'd been peering out the window, watching the water below until that too had faded from view and they were headed back to the desert. "I don't know. I think it could be nice."
He shrugged. "I think there are better places than Hollywood."
"Yeah? Where are you looking at moving to or are you happy to stay in Portland?"
"No, I wouldn't stay in Portland. I've never been particularly homesick. Virginia has plenty of nice places by the ocean, away from Mystic Falls. Florida's not bad. Or, well, Cuba is a beautiful and peaceful place to live. Brazil, on the other hand, is festive, noisy but fun. Italy is another level of perfection."
"So, eyes closed, if you had to pick one of those places at gunpoint, which would it be? Where do you see your future taking you?"
Her approach amused him. He cast a curious glance at her. "Why would I pick just one? My mood changes. Places should change too."
"You don't have a desire for home?"
"With a life like mine, I learned that my home is within me. It won't depend on a place. But could depend on who's with me."
That was sort of sweet. She agreed with him, too. On the other hand, she also liked her things, being surrounded by stuff her grandmother and father loved. There's no way she'd be able to recreate the garden her grandmother loved so much and spent weekends tending to when she wasn't teaching. Bonnie needed those reminders. They kept her going. "Do you plan on having a family?"
"I have no plans, they're useless. I live in the now. There's nothing beyond now."
"Maybe that's where I went wrong," Bonnie said, deciding not to internalize the thought. "I always wanted the picket fence and two point five. The dog. I never had that growing up, so I always thought it would be nice."
"You can have anything you want, Bonnie," Kai said, turning to her with a calm smile. "Just don't plan weeks ahead. Free yourself."
She sighed softly, giving a gentle nod. She did need to live in the now and let go of trying to maintain some goal. Easier said than done. There was too much that she held onto, still tried to and wanted to protect. That took planning. Not a lot, but enough. Even though he wasn't feeling tired, she was beginning to, drawing her legs up onto the chair, curling into it, trying her best to find her most comfortable position. She could have gone into the back and spread out in one of the luxurious chairs, but she wanted to be with him, to stay at his side.
He saw her struggles from the corner of his eye, but said nothing. He was content with her doing what she wanted without any outside directions. A more or less free Bennett was more fun. She could hold surprises.
They landed back in Vegas around ten A.M. in a cloudless, shiny morning. Bonnie picked a cozy cafe for a big cup of her favorite coffee with cinnamon and a dessert, then they came back to their penthouse to change Bonnie into more casual clothes.
Bonnie shucked off the lavish dress still soaked in seawater, strung it over the back of a chair and slid a T-shirt over her head. She didn't bother with the pants for now since it was still early and she wanted a bit of a nap before they hit the dessert.
"You hungry yet?" Kai asked from the couch where he was waiting for her. He picked up the room service menu from the coffee table to flick through.
"Actually yeah. I wouldn't mind an omelet," Bonnie said, easing onto the couch beside him, stretching her legs out before her so she could rest them on the coffee table.
Kai raised his eyebrows in mock surprise. "What, no steaks? No meatballs? No salads?"
"I'll save the dense stuff for dinner," Bonnie said, leaning her head back against the couch, briefly looking at the menu over his shoulder. "Are you hungry?"
Kai sighed and gave her an ironic look instead of an answer.
Bonnie slid her right arm into his lap, raising it in offering. "Why don't you take it. Like…"
"There's not enough blood in you to sate that hunger. Besides, I'm fine for now." He regarded her, gauging. "How about you? Gambling, flying, soaking in cold waves… How you feeling?"
"Tired," Bonnie said, unfazed with the boundryless space she'd made. She tipped to the side, resting her head on his shoulder. "I could use a nap before we head out again. That inhumane tiredness kick in for you yet?"
"Nope." He held an open palm out, and the phone receiver flipped to it. Kai punched the number in and ordered Bonnie's omelet and orange juice, adding a few bottles of mineral water for the desert exercises. Then he put the phone on top of the menu on the table and relaxed into the couch, wrapping an arm around Bonnie's shoulders as she leaned in.
She twisted in his embrace, stretching out on the couch, deciding to use him as her cushion while she waited on her breakfast to arrive. "You know," Bonnie said, mulling over something that had come up and into her head over the last few days of dealing with Kai one on one. "If you hate your vampirism… we could take a little blood from Elena. It uh… it has the cure." She wasn't sure if he even knew that or not.
"Who would predict what it would do?" Kai said, flipping through TV channels. "If it reverses me to mere siphoner, that won't be good. Nor is it any good to be a walking cure. And if I take the cure and siphon its magic from my body — hell knows what happens then. I guess I'll just have to leave it be as it is."
"I didn't think about that," Bonnie said, staring up at the ceiling, then the TV before closing her eyes. "I could research it for you a bit. Try to find some answers. If, you know, you're interested later."
He emitted a soft hem of a laugh. "You're doing it again. Planning…"
"Habit," Bonnie apologized, smiling slightly.
Kai opened the door to Bonnie's breakfast after she stated that her outfit wasn't appropriate for a waiter to see. He rolled the cart to her and wished her a bon appetite. While she was at it, he opted for a quick shower and a change of clothes.
She polished the omelet in little under six minutes, forgoing the toast and additives, covering what remained of the breakfast with the fancy lid. While he showered, she moved herself to her bedroom, crawling in beneath the covers, set her alarm for an hour or two. She didn't want to waste the day and the training they had in mind.
Oh, no, not training — tricks. The tricks they had in mind.
She smiled at the thought, replaying the morning and night in her head, a smile on her face as her hands shifted to her breasts, squeezing them, and then between her thighs. She stroked herself through her underwear, pressing, circling, toying with the idea of masturbating, before deciding against it. An orgasm would have been an amazing way to round off an amazing twelve hours. She chuckled, rolling onto her side, chiding herself for being greedy with her pleasure, and curled up, forcing herself to relax so she could sleep.
"It can't be this hard," Caroline said to herself, sitting on the floor. "Why wouldn't you keep records of the people you put away?" She was surrounded by books, various ones that had been opened and a bunch of notepads that she'd found and borrowed in order to make notes as needed.
Enzo and Caroline had taken over the Parker house. At first Enzo had helped her, making sure to reference and flick through the books with her, eventually electing to explore the house for trinkets and other magical artifacts he might recognize. At first they'd been subtle and polite about their exploration, doing their best not to upend anything should someone show up, but when no one did, all courtesy had flown out of the window.
Unlike most witch houses where who they were was hidden superficially, in this one, it hadn't taken them very long to discover a treasure trove of information stuffed into the attic. A space they obviously used for their casting and crafting. Caroline had joked that they'd taken their love of Charmed to the next level. Allure that wore off relatively quickly while they struggled to find what they were looking for.
She scrubbed her hands against her face tiredly, sipping at the blood bag needed to comfort her frenzied and addled nerves. If only she had cake, something else to stuff her face with.
"Tell me you've found something," Caroline said, her voice soft and hopeful when she heard Enzo climbing the stairs.
"I think it's time we admit that it's a dead end," he said, standing before her with his arms folded. His eyes danced in subtle amusement at her obvious stress-eating. "If those bastards loved cloaking, maybe all the important books you're looking for are cloaked. Unless you know a witch that can undo that, we're done here."
"They're all dead," Caroline said, not meaning to sound callous but too tired to be subtle or sympathetic about the travesty. "Doesn't that mean that the magic automatically falls away? That there is nothing keeping it in place anymore?" Unless Kai was. But why would he if he was trying to protect Bonnie? Unless he wasn't…
Enzo pondered it, pacing around the room. "Well, Bonnie's boyfriend managed to die and turn and his cloaking on the Heretics stayed intact, right? Maybe their spells don't fade with death. That's bloody scary if you ask me. Not many witches can boast the same. None I've ever known could." He picked another book from the shelf, skimming through it quickly, then tossed it and took another.
"They must really not want people in their business," Caroline murmured. Or maybe the spell had dropped and then reestablished itself after he came back? Maybe Kai was still linked to everything and anything they couldn't see? She wanted to run her hands across the floor, along the walls, and find anything and everything that might be cloaked. It would be that simple, no? And yet she knew magic was anything but simple. She drained her blood pack and tossed it onto the floor next to her, swiping at her lower lip with her index finger. "What about one of your witch friends? Remember coat-closet girl? Couldn't she help or—"
Enzo smirked, tossing another useless book on the floor to pluck another one. "She gave a hint where to find Gemini but specified she'd have nothing to do with them. My guess was they were all quite a formidable bunch. I wouldn't be surprised if no one would wanna mess with them even when they're dead. Reputation goes a long way."
He flipped through the pages, then stopped, reading a passage from it. He carried it to Caroline and put it in her hands.
"At least there's that," he said, his finger jabbing at the pretty accurate sketch of an ascendant amidst the description of the prison world concept. "It says here they didn't do it alone. Used another coven or family. Wasn't it by any chance your perky friend's bloodline? That's why Lily and her group hate her?"
"She hasn't done anything to them," Caroline defended, looking at the detailed picture. There was definitely a lot wrong with the one they had. They looked nothing like anymore.
She ripped one of the notebook pages free, took a picture of the ascendant with her phone and slipped the piece of paper between the books pages. At least, if they were to give up, they wouldn't be going home empty handed. She stared up at Enzo for a minute, considering his bloodline theory, wondering if there would be anything more at Bonnie's house. Or Sheila's.
She rolled her head on her neck, massaging at her shoulders with one hand and slowly looked around at the mess she'd created. She picked up the books, double checking them to make sure she hadn't missed anything, stacking them as she went so that she could return them to their original place on the shelves.
They might have been doing a breaking and entering, but that didn't mean they had to leave everything untidy. Someone was eventually going to have to box this place up and clean it out. She assumed maybe Kai. If he even cared to do that.
An hour later, the attic looked as if they had never been there. She tossed her blood bags in the dustbin, did one last venture around the house, trying to see where Jo had grown up.
"What's your plans when you get back?" Caroline asked, glancing at Enzo as they drove for the airport.
"Assuming I have any social life? You flatter me."
"You know what I mean," Caroline said, side eyeing him as she drove. He could be so aggravating sometimes.
"I don't read minds, nor tell fortunes." He smiled.
"Could have fooled me. You usually have one up in everyone's business," Caroline said, playing along. "I was talking about Lily."
"Think I should break her out?" Said in a tone of asking whether he should have tea or coffee.
"I was wondering if that was your plan," Caroline said.
"Were you also wondering whether I'm imbecile enough to say it outright if it was?"
Caroline smiled her sweetest smile. He was working on her nerves. Why could he never just be straightforward? Why did everything have to be a riddle?
"You don't want to know what I'm thinking right now," Caroline said, considering what to do next, her eyes transfixed on the road. Within twenty minutes they were back at the airport, returning the rental and being ushered onto the next flight back to Virginia.
The midday Nevada sun was a bright searing eye in the middle of the pale sky as Bonnie's new car rolled down The Strip. Bonnie raised her feet onto the dashboard, rolled down her window and turned on the radio. She was nervous about their training session. She worried the nail on her index finger, her eyes on the passing traffic as they drove toward the desert.
"So, how's your gang doing back home?" Kai asked. "Did they spank Damon for your sake, at least?"
"From what Caroline said they have him tied up. I don't know how long they intend for him to stay that way. I guess… maybe, until… I don't know. I think they don't know either. They're winging it. No planning." Bonnie flashed him a smile since he'd been iterating that a lot the morning.
"I bet he's loving every second of it."
"I'll bet," Bonnie agreed, feeling sadness gnaw at her gut. When she had broken free of the prison world, what she'd imagined would happen afterwards was not this. "We can't trust him right now. It's better that he is out of the way."
Kai side-eyed her curiously. "Who do you trust? Besides your favorite Barbie girl."
"Stefan," Bonnie said, assuming he was talking within her friend group. "Elena. Jeremy. Alaric…"
"Think our sad groom would still be on your side if I'm there?" Kai gave her a narrowed glance – Really?
"Would you be if he killed your intended wife at your wedding?" Bonnie countered. Regardless of all of that, Alaric had earned her trust many years ago. She wouldn't and couldn't blame him for anything he felt or might feel knowing that Bonnie was with Kai.
Kai smirked. "I'd murder the hell out of him for that so there'd be no more reason left to be bitter. But yeah, sure, he couldn't pull it off, just puny human that he is. Therefore, he won't be on your team. Just sayin'. What about your boyfriend? Think he still likes you enough?"
"My boyfriend? Jeremy?" Bonnie asked, confused for a second since she hadn't thought about him like that for quite some time. After her latest death, she'd assumed it was over and everything else buried. He never would have forgiven her for lying to him and she also couldn't forgive herself. He deserved better than he'd gotten. She didn't think he'd accept who she'd become now. "I think… I think we'll always have that special place with one another, but times have changed. He… doesn't know where he stands. Not with me. Not with himself. I think losing Elena was a final blow." She couldn't even bring herself to be mad at him anymore, fully blaming everything that had happened at the Salvatore Boarding house on Damon.
Kai thought of Jeremy's place by Damon's side in chasing Bonnie around the state, in capturing her for whatever Damon had planned to do to change her mind. Kai flashed back to Jeremy's enraged face down in the Salvatore cellar. There were feelings, all right. But probably more on the bitter side now.
"Oh, by the way, important question," he said, and gave Bonnie a serious look. "How many men you had?"
"What—" Bonnie nearly choked, and flushed, caught off guard by the sudden change in topic after what she deemed, well, somewhat deep.
"I counted two so far… oh, right, sorry — three with me. Who else?"
A hot flash touched her back with its sweaty palm. "Why… What does that even matter? How many partners have you had?"
He grinned his wide boyish, teasing grin. "I asked you first."
"We're being childish about it now?" Bonnie asked in a voice that could have been a bit higher than she intended, desperately trying to be adult about it. "Why so curious?"
He blinked at her all innocent-like. "Childish? I'm allowed to be curious! I mean, you're really pretty. So, how many more idiots you allowed to stand in your shine, mm? Come on, no judging."
She pretended to think it over. She'd had a few crushes before Jeremy. Many, in fact. However, sex was not something she jumped into blindly. She took a slow, deep breath, then went ah screw it. "Three."
"As in, three more? Who? When?"
"No, not three more. Three total. You said it," Bonnie answered, feeling a bit more exposed than she could get used to. "If there were more, I wouldn't bother going into detail anyway. I don't kiss and tell."
Kai flashed her a shocked expression, his jaw dropping. "You can't be serious. Just three? Unbelievable."
"I never met anyone that seemed genuine enough for… anything more."
A lopsided sneer twitched Kai's mouth. "I could argue the genuine factor in at least two of your three choices."
"Really? Which two of the three would that be?" Bonnie arched a brow, challenging him.
"Oh, don't be coy! You know. All those names that have no K in them."
"You're joking," Bonnie scoffed. "You're saying what you and I have is genuine? Not just us… seeking comfort?"
Now, that was interesting. And ouch. He shot her a reproachful look. "Well, at least you come clean about that. Me — I don't get into anything half-assed since high school. I'm all in."
Bonnie didn't even know what to say to that. She suddenly felt guilty for thinking that they were only having sex. How couldn't he? Everything was complicated and it sort of made sense for them to go this route. They had things to work out, and apart from the violence they'd adopted, intimacy was the next best thing. If Bonnie was truly honest, however, she never put much thought into where they would go and what sex meant for them. Kai almost made it sound like he viewed them in a relationship. "How many all-ins have you had?"
He frowned in fake stupefaction. "Wait. You mean you measure genuineness by quantity of all-ins? How does that make sense? Like, the more all-ins you got, the more… what, genuine you are? Or… more reliable? That'd make Bluebeard the most reliable and genuine guy in the world, right?" A laugh erupted from him, both amazed and abashed. "How does it even work for you girls? I mean, jeez… But hey, now it means Elena's not crazy — in fact, all women are!" He laughed in the same amazed manner like a physicist who has just discovered some basic but groundbreaking principle of life that has never been taken into account before.
"I could say the same about men. They're no walk in the park either," Bonnie added, thinking once again about Damon, her lips quirking. Part of her wanted to laugh along with Kai, while another had to admit that he was completely wrong about everything that he was thinking, and this conversation was one she never expected to have with him. How to explain though? How to measure that an all-in was simply a longstanding relationship. She didn't think he'd had those. How could he with his father's demands to break away from any outside influences? There was the elusive high school girl, but how long did that last? The length of her relationship with Jeremy? She couldn't picture Kai as the type, although over the last few days he'd been pretty surprising. "What's wrong with Elena? How's she crazy?"
"You're all crazy with the same desires. The best score ever for most girls is to get a bad boy and reform him to suit your needs. Stefan bored her out of her skull, and then she turned up with fangs and went for the bad brother and began her meticulous job. She did turn him into a whipped pathetic idiot that has to act out to prove everyone around him that his balls are not in her pocket, but she also got crazier along the way. So she excuses all stuff he does, participates in his crazy escapades as though competing, then stuffs wrong ideas into his inflamed brain; and he's wiggling under her thumb while she watches and when she turns away — does all his usual mean little deeds to other friends or lesser people, using them as fodder for his whims or whatever he wants to present to Elena as what he did for her. Like, you know, screwing everyone over to bring you back just so you could tell Elena he is the best thing that ever happened to her because she scraped him out of her mind, literally. But then she figured it out before he got you free, and he went ah screw it, and stopped trying. But then I came along by chance and they used me as a tool to put laurels of winning on Damon's head like the whole getting you out was his one-man mission."
She took in everything that he was saying, finding herself going between smiling and being insulted for her best friend. Damon wasn't perfect by any means, nor did Stefan bore Elena, but it was complicated for sure. Bonnie could see why Kai looked at it that way, and she had experienced Damon's return to his dark side many times. Even with Elena around. Especially during their breakups. She supposed what he was doing to her now was one of those moments, although Bonnie didn't want to or like to think about it like that. They'd been through a lot and Bonnie deserved better. She simply liked to think that Damon was going through his own dramas. Not that she could still bring herself to forgive him for what happened with his mother. Her bones still ached because of it. As if the pain returned, she scrubbed a hand over her knee and then brushed it away, knowing that it was another one of those fantasy traumas that was going to crop up every so often.
"How long have you been keeping all of that in?" Bonnie asked. "And let's back it up a little, what do you mean he screwed everyone over to bring me back? How?"
"Ah, that lovely story where he compelled Alaric to steal the ascendant from Josey and then use Liv to get you out. Then Liv failed, I scorched the ascendant, Ric found out… There was a lot of fantastic drama back home while you were in limbo."
"What are you talking about?" Bonnie asked, raising a hand, trying to get him and her charging mind to slow down. "He compelled Alaric to steal the ascendant? Why would he need to do that?" There is a lot she wasn't told or hadn't really had the chance to sit down and talk about. She came back and Caroline was on her humanity-off train, had lost her mother, and Bonnie was just shuffling back into life trying to figure out the basics of living. And failing. "Sounds like I missed a lot. Elena never told me about the ascendant thing, although I did hear you'd destroyed it."
"Why would she tell you how her lovely dumbass Damon screwed it up with Ricky-Ric? Have you missed the part where I told you she accepts his crimes and covers for him?"
"No, I never… and she doesn't really do that. I know from the outside it looks like it, but most of the time she does hold him accountable. They just have a rocky history. Damon's complicated. He always has been."
"And she rewards him with wild vampire sex for his… complications. Got it."
"Vampire what now? W-what sex are you talking about?" Bonnie asked, finding herself aggravated trying to defend the two. "They have sex, of course. They're boyfriend and girlfriend. It's what you do in relationships. And even out of them."
He widened his eyes at her in an exaggerated expression of interest, "Oh, really? That's what it is! Riiiight. Even out of them, huh? Fascinating. Well, in their crazy-pants dynamics, it's apparently the treat system. Like something you have with your dog. Only Damon wins anyway: when she thinks he behaves, and also when she just chooses to pacify him so he doesn't do worse."
"The treat system. Where did you even come up with that?" Bonnie asked, sounding disgusted. Was she doing the same? She didn't think so. That's not why they'd had sex the first time. It just happened. She didn't know what to think anymore.
"Uh… because it's obvious?"
She didn't know what to make of that, nor why she was thinking about the two having sex and Elena patting Damon's head every time he did something good. Ew. That was crazy.
"I bet Damon got a mega-treat after that get-crazy-mommy-from-prison mission. You got your revenge, I got screwed, a ripper mom got out, Stefan got his feels, and Damon was the hero again. Did I get that right?"
"I wouldn't say he was a hero. He did his best to help though. Even if, right now, it's misguided and fucked up," Bonnie said, growing weary of defending Damon when it was hard to do so. She thought she understood him, but right now he was just exhausting her. "I wouldn't know what he got after that or if it even matters. That's not all their relationship was about. Is about."
Kai laughed, then cut it off and cast a mock bewildered glance her way, "Oh, you were serious."
"They're there for one another. More importantly, they love one another. It's that simple. Not everything is transactional."
"Wasn't he in love with that other ancient girl with the same face?" Kai squinted as if to remember the name. "Katrina something… But hey, never mind that one, I guess. And never mind Stefan who Elena was supposedly loving? And it all came down to that face-double again if I recall it correctly…" He made a whooshing sound, rolling his eyes. "It's just too confusing to take on sober. Especially with the prison world factor involving Damon, all suffering from love, and you whose name was not Elena. But I digress. So, then, was her snotty little brother your all-in, then?"
She had to wonder if he was trying to hurt her, to lash out by throwing around the fact that she wasn't Elena, that she didn't matter as much and that it was easier to let her go because of it. Bonnie had thought that her relationship with Damon was solid, and yet, how quickly he'd proven otherwise. Elena had told her all about the in-loves and out of loves of her relationships with the Salvatores, and most the time Bonnie was confused too. She didn't think Elena was as in love with Damon as she was addicted to something that he summoned in her. Everyone had noticed that change, and it wasn't always for the good. Bonnie didn't always recognize her, but people grew, they changed and Elena was not immune to that. Maybe she needed this time with Damon to heal or grow into a part of herself she couldn't with Stefan. Bonnie didn't even know why she cared right now to think that hard on it when none of it mattered anymore. Everyone had moved on from that circle of hell.
"Jeremy isn't snotty. Not much anyway. And yeah, I suppose, for a while there he was. It just didn't work out that way in the long-term. Too much happened. Mostly me dying. A lot. Too much for any one relationship to survive. It's a miracle we lasted as long as we did."
"I bet no one bailed on Elena when she was dying," Kai reasoned, taking a turn for the street leading out of the city. "Or your bossy blonde — I bet she gotta have died a few. Gotta have guts to not give up on your dead woman, right? I mean, the Salvatore losers can't be the only ones who chase people into their graves and pull them out by the skin of their teeth. If Jeremy loved you, he'd find a way for his all-in, don't you think? Like you have so many times for him?"
"He is— was human. Could you expect that from any one person? Even I'm not that cruel," Bonnie said, shaking her head slightly. "If you weren't a witch, do you think you would have been able to do what you did for me that day? Do you think you would have been able to save me from Lily? I don't think so. You probably would have died yourself, besides, it's not as if I expect all my lovers to raise me from the dead. That's… it's ridiculous. I try for my friends because I have magic. He has nothing. He was there for me when I had no one. And he did the best he could."
Her defending everyone was getting tiresome. Kai sighed and tossed her an oh please look. "He wasn't alone on an island. He's got plenty of freaks to summon a football team to rescue you from any possible trouble. I mean, everyone runs to you when they break a nail or get a splinter, but no one bothers to cooperate to get one out of your finger for a change. Your prison world rescue mission was a total mess on their part. I bet your previous deaths weren't handled any more creatively."
"If it was easy to raise someone from the dead, don't you think everyone would be doing it? They didn't even know what had happened. Neither did I. How could I expect him to know? As for the previous times or whatever. Jeremy respected me enough to let it go, to let me figure it out. I never expected to come back, either. At times I still don't think I have. It shouldn't be possible. Not so many times. Once was a miracle, a second time lucky… third… " Bonnie said, her voice breaking off as she struggled to think of anymore defenses and to tap into those old feelings of abandonment. She hadn't enjoyed her life in a very long time. She still didn't. Apart from the moments of bliss in between. "The fact that they eventually tried is enough for me."
"Eventually tried," Kai echoed, as though tasting the words on his tongue. And cast a simultaneously amused and sympathetic gander her way. "You do hear how it sounds, right? Like they had nothing to do some Saturday and decided to try. Gee, Bonnie." He chuckled, shaking his head. "All right, here's another example. Damon won't ever stop chasing me to reverse Elena's curse. I bet his brother or your boyfriend have similar thoughts, including the blondie. How many of them would be on my tail if it were you the sleeping beauty, you think?"
She sat in silence, trying to work up a defense that would be viable, but she had no idea what to say. There had been many instances where even in death she'd had to figure it out herself. "One," Bonnie muttered, her head dark, her body tense as she thought about it. She realized she didn't have any faith in her friends and that was why she worked so hard at doing everything herself. "I'm not sleeping beauty, so who even knows? It might be different."
"Oh but you know," Kai said in a low voice, and something in his tone was soft enough to imply empathy. "That's the bad part. That you do know. I just wonder when that knowledge came to you? After which time of your getting in trouble for them you realized that you're one for all and there's no one for you?"
She wanted to say now and applaud his unexpected therapy session, but the truth was she had figured it out in the prison world when they had unsuccessfully gone for her the first time. The plan had been surprising but the execution sloppy. She'd seen the evidence of their activities in the boarding house while they waited. Why hadn't they driven to meet her? Why did they waste more time by leaving the Salvatore's to go to Elena's. If Bonnie hadn't found the note in the kitchen she never would have known. She'd have thought she imagined them calling. Her psyche had been fragile as it was. It still was. Maybe it was why she wasn't demanding that Kai do away with the link between her and Elena. Was Bonnie trying to punish her? She flushed at the thought, guilt wanting to suffocate her for the ridiculous thought. When was she supposed to find the time for another rescue mission? She was already busy with one. Or at least somewhat.
"It doesn't help thinking about the past anymore. They're trying now and that's what matters."
"What are they trying now? What have they tried? Assaulting someone to pin it on us? Setting cops on our heel? Sending the ripper mom with her apprentice to get us?"
"That was Damon. All Damon. Neither Stefan nor Caroline approved of any of those actions. What I don't get is why Jeremy went with it. It's as if he thinks I've become the bad guy. What could Damon have said to sway him?"
"Think he had to try hard to convince your baby Gilbert?" Kai scoffed. From what he had heard and seen back in Salvatore house, Jeremy had been swayed from the go. "And your team blond losers coulda tried harder to stop those two. Instead all their efforts looked like headless chickens run."
"Tried harder? No. They did what they could. I know that. They're doing their best right now too. Problem is we don't know what we're doing. Me included. The only one with a semblance of anything or knowing is you."
"They knew how to vervain and chain him up, but they never did that, not even after he lashed out at you nearly biting your head off. Maybe they just like how he shows his love." Kai sneered, mimicking endearment.
"That's not the way he shows his love," Bonnie retorted. "What are you even talking about?!" Her stomach was a pool of anger, swelling through her in such a way that she could begin to feel it in the tips of her fingers. She wanted to throw him from the car. Perhaps even herself. Anything to escape the annoyance of the conversation. "I know what it looks like, but you've got to see how confusing it is for everyone involved. It's not all as easy and a-b-c as you make it out to be."
"But it is!" He laughed. How she couldn't see it was beyond him. But then again, she was a professional denier. She could've made a career out of it. "Everything is easy at its core, Bonster. Everything has been invented long ago and people keep running in the same hamster wheels over and over. Nothing's changing. You go to school, get either picked for the top clique or the losers club and then your whole life goes by that scheme."
"Until they break the cycle. Which I have. If I hadn't, you and I wouldn't be sitting here with my friends on the other side of the states." And they couldn't feel further away from her than this moment. She not only wanted to call Caroline, but she wanted to see her, to have her hear all this bullshit and see what her thoughts on it was. Caroline was one of the few people that actually understood her and continued to understand her. Who'd comforted her when her grandmother died, and then when her mother turned, but expected nothing in return for it. Bonnie loved Elena, but at times, there did feel as if there was some kind of transitional movement between them as well. Only Bonnie didn't get sex.
"When are we getting there?" Bonnie asked, her blood boiling with literal magic. She needed and outlet.
"To know whether you've broken your cycle," Kai said, ignoring her inquiry as he circled to another street on the outskirts of Vegas, "you gotta know your cycle. Have you ever given it any thought what place you have among your friends? Your inner hierarchy, if you will? I mean, let's take school. I saw that picture of you guys, it's still there. Mystic Falls High's pride. All cheerleaders, all pretty. Elena, that school's beauty and golden heart, meant to date the quarterback and be admired. Caroline, the blonde beauty queen and the president of bitch club, the girl everyone wants while she doesn't like limiting her choices and thus flutters from one boy to another, raising them to heaven one day and dropping to hell next when she picks new favorite. Where do you stand on that ladder? Keeping to sidelines, smiling a bit shyly as though embarrassed to be in the spotlight and pretty content to be in their shadow."
Bonnie remembered that picture. That was one of the many amazing days they'd had. It disturbed her how much Kai had picked up on all their lives, how much he'd seen without being involved in it, as if he just knew how to read everything about them. As if the pages of their lives were there for everyone to see and dissect. Was it like that? Was she the only one that didn't see it? After all, hadn't she won homecoming queen? Didn't that stand for something? Didn't that mean she stood outside of everyone's shadow? That they were in hers? In some ways, in the fact that she helped them a lot, sure, but superficially she knew it was the other way around.
"I've never had a problem uplifting my friends, Kai. It's also not a bad thing. Both Elena and Caroline loved being captain and co-captain of the cheer team. I just loved being part of whatever they were. I never needed to have something outside of myself because their stuff was my stuff."
"Except for worthy boyfriends," Kai played back. "Those no girl in her right mind would ever let you have if she can get there first. Have you ever gone for, say, a new guy all three of you liked? Or someone one or both of them liked? Or you just let them have those without any competition on your part because you just give up your wishes for them habitually? Because you certainly don't deserve any guy of their level? This is how you ended up with Elena's baby brother? Because they just handed him down to you like that prize you get for participation when you can't get the grand cup? Like, hey, you can't win this, but at least you were there. Yay for you, here's this little complimentary basket."
"They never— we never fought about boys like that," Bonnie said, trying to remember if Elena, Caroline and herself ever had feelings for the same person. They'd all crushed on similar people but never actually attempted to pursue the same people. When Stefan came about, as hot as Bonnie found him, she hadn't even bothered to try. She knew at once that he wouldn't even look at her. That hadn't stopped Caroline though. Or Elena. They'd always been competitive. Even when it came to Matt. "No, Jeremy and I had grown up around one another but we never really looked at one another like that. Not until later. Us getting together had been our choice and had very little to do with them."
"Yeah, two leftovers getting together." Kai flipped her a jocular glance. "He ended up between some meaningless flicks and you were still waiting for Mr Right that never came your way because he went to either Elena or Blondie."
"We grew up together," Bonnie repeated, narrowing her eyes in his direction to make sure that he understood. "It isn't like you think it is. I know it can seem that way from the outside, but it might have happened if we spent more time together before then. We just never did. We ran in very different circles."
"Yeah, he in kiddie-pool and you with grownups until you both looked around and he realized you're still alone and can finally see his cute lil face as your last chance, and you actually seeing that maybe this is it since everything worthy has been already snatched away and distributed among the queen number one and queen number two."
"Jeremy had plenty relationships before me. I wasn't looking for one," Bonnie said. A little bit of a lie. She always looked for her prince charming, but he never came along.
"Yeah, no, totally, I understand, it's absolutely normal and common that a pretty girl is never looking for a relationship until it hits her in the face and she ends up with her best friend's snotty lil brother just because he's had plenty of girls before her to practice for his kid-crush that was her, and she was like if not now then when!"
He rolled the car to a stop and killed the engine. The mountains were framing the sandy landscape with rare dry patches of bushes and some boulders here and there, and you couldn't tell which way was the city, anymore.
She didn't hesitate to climb out so they could stop arguing. He did make a point but she couldn't bring herself to try and justify every turn. What happened in the past was in the past. She was trying to move forward and she was doing her best to hold on to the good portions. She was grateful Kai didn't know about Jeremy cheating on her with a ghost or she'd never hear the end of it. Thinking about it now made her despise what their relationship had been then. She'd never understood that and she still didn't get it.
Bonnie closed her eyes, trying to force the tension out of her body and into her hands, into her fingertips where she could expel it slowly. "How are we starting?"
Kai exited the car after her, took a deep breath of dry desert air, surveying the bleak scenery, then turned to her with the kind of attention one grants the painting he's about to buy. "Now that you're all riled up and ready, you will have to think on your feet. See, no good battle magic comes from the peaceful meditation of a honeymoon zen. Those Heretics won't let you focus, they won't wait for you to get your nerves and moods under control, and they certainly won't cut you any slack." He narrowed his eyes at her, taking a few slow relaxed steps around the car. "They have some huge plans for you, Bonnie, and none of those end with a quick death."
Bonnie's eyes snapped open, fixating on him with a lint of confusion and relief. He wasn't trying to bring her down, he was simply trying to bring her up. She could appreciate that. Not that he needed to use that much truth, but at the same time, she could feel those truths on her fingertips, feel them inching to be released, to cause someone or something else the same pain she'd had to endure for years.
"Lovely," Bonnie murmured. "How about an aneurism spell? One of the first ones I taught myself." She'd never been able to enforce it onto multiple people without getting a nosebleed, but that was then and this was now. She regarded him, wondering if he was here to actually show her to some degree what she could do against those similar to him. "Used to work like a charm, although that healing factor can be quite sketchy. Know any spells to stop that?"
"Aha," he said, and disappeared.
Bonnie blinked, staring at the space he'd been, wishing she knew how to cast cloaking spells. She focused her magic inward, trying to hold onto the connection she was sure they had, that she'd cast earlier, trying to track him despite his invisibility.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are," Bonnie sing-songed, hating that her stomach was twisting with nervousness, as if he might have abandoned her. He wouldn't do that, she knew that much, and yet old habits died hard.
And then her eyes skimmed over the empty scenery once more, and with a comber of gooseflesh breaking out all over her body, she realized the car was gone too.