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Here they were again. Because this was how it would always go. And from the sluggish, smug grin Kai threw her way when she entered the bar and turned off the jukebox, he was thinking the same thing. He let out an exaggerated groan that was just on this side of filthy. Even after three years of torture, he was still ridiculous.
“Bonster,” he wheezed out, his chains clinking as he shifted as much as he could, “To what do I owe this pleasure?”
What indeed.
Bonnie had been doing good. After everything was said and done, she had packed up and booked town, only leaving her number with Matt with the express instructions that he wasn’t supposed to call her unless it was a life or death emergency - and an actual one, not one they could solve without her. Matt was the only one she trusted and for three years he never abused that trust. But it seemed someone had by-passed him somehow because one day, in the middle of a work meeting, she got a call from Damon Salvatore saying shit had happened and they needed her.
Bonnie had wanted to ignore him. She was finally doing well for herself. Bonnie had a nice apartment, she got herself a familiar - a black stray cat she called Salem - and her job was dull but easy and comfortably paid all her bills. Her life was finally on track. It would have been easy to ignore him. But Bonnie really was a glutton for punishment. She had applied for a long leave from her job, grabbed Salem, put a stasis spell on her plants and locked up her apartment.
It turned out that Caroline and Stefan’s past had caught up to them. During the time they had shut off their humanity they had fed off of and killed a witch and now that witch’s very angry children had gotten older and powerful enough to come calling for revenge. It seemed no one had told them that Stefan and Caroline had booked town in much the same fashion as Bonnie had and they hadn’t entrusted their number with anyone (a mistake Bonnie would make sure never to make again). When everything was laid out in front of her, Bonnie was so very tempted to turn around and head back to the West Coast but Damon had begged her to stay.
Playing with the very fires of Hell had left Bonnie drained, and for a long time she hadn’t had her magic. As it was now, she was barely even at half her previous strength. The spells she practiced daily were simple ones, ones that never tugged at her energy. The things her “friends'' were asking of her would completely wipe her out. And since she was dealing with four angry witches, she knew she couldn’t do it alone. It had been Damon who suggested it - because of course he would. Bonnie often wondered if the title of “best friend” had been awarded to him far too easily.
And so here she was, against her better judgement.
“Bonnie,” Kai trilled, “Anyone home? You look really pretty by the way - did you do something to your hair? Speaking of pretty, I know I’m pretty to look at but you’ve been staring at me for a lot longer than decently polite and if I had something on my face I’d have thought we were good enough friends you’d at least point it out.”
With a flick of her wrists, the chains unlocked and fell to a loud heap on the floor. Kai remained as he was, body pressed against the chair, arms on the metal rests. That annoying, smug smile was gone and in its place was an obviously calculating one. If Bonnie appreciated one thing about Kai after the merge, it was that - around her at least - when he was scheming, he made it obvious.
With far less grace than she expected, he shuffled out of the seat slowly, using the back of the chair as support. His legs shook and his body was obviously weak but he also was a half vampire, so she knew he would only need a minute at the most.
“Now, Bonnie,” he murmured, those unnervingly blue eyes boring into her soul, “Just what are you plotting?”
She shrugged, leaning her hip against the bar and crossing her arms over her chest. The air crackled with magic but she told herself not to feel intimidated. Kai didn’t know she wasn’t as strong as before. In fact, he didn’t need to know she wasn’t even half as strong.
“Your talents as a leech are required. Do this good deed and I’ll consider reducing your prison sentence.”
“And what exactly does ‘life in-a-magical-prison-that-won’t-let-me-die’ reduce to? I don’t suppose I’ll be let out with parole? Ohh, you wouldn’t happen to be my parole officer, would you?” He shook his head, his teeth glinting as he smiled, “Mmm, Bonnie Bennett in a uniform is an image I won’t want to get out of my head anytime soon.”
She raised a brow, “If you want this blood bag, you better be on your best behaviour.”
“If I’m on my extra special best behaviour, can I feed from the vein?”
"If you touch me, I will burn you,” she said pleasantly, raising a hand lazily in warning. The smile Kai threw her way showed he knew she wasn’t joking. Thank God he couldn’t tell she was lying.
It wasn’t right, how easily they were interacting. With the way he had begged for her when she locked him up three years ago, she would have expected him to have his hands around her throat and his fangs in her veins without a second wasted. Maybe he’d siphon what little magic she had left too, because he was a dick like that. But instead, they stood on opposite ends of the bar, sizing each other up.
“Noted.” He pushed himself away from the chair and swaggered towards her, his muscles regenerated enough that he wasn’t stumbling around like a newborn dear, “So, you said you needed my help. Whatever could require the great Bonnie Bennett to need help from the scum of the earth?”
“I don’t need your help at all. Mystic Falls is in danger: witches are threatening to kill everyone.”
Kai stopped - three feet of space between them. He shot her a winning grin.
“I refuse.”
Bonnie blinked, surprised, “What did you say?”
“I said, no. I’m not gonna help anyone in that backward podunk town.”
“Then I’ll just chain you back up.”
Without preamble, Kai joined his wrists and held them out to her in offering, a lopsided smile on his face. His pretty blue eyes were mean as they twinkled in the low light.
“By all means. Oh, and you can be rough, I don’t mind,” He winked for extra measure.
Bonnie stared at him, her eyebrows lowering and her eyes narrowing in thought. She couldn’t figure out his play. Was the cavalier attitude just pretend? There wasn’t any way she could twist his response in a way that made sense - and even if Kai was crazy, he was the smart, calculating kind of crazy that analysed every option and weighed the pros and cons. And the offer Bonnie had laid down for him had more pros. She knew because it was what had her so hesitant.
“Fine,” she spat out, “I’ll bite: why won’t you do it?"
Realising she fell for his attempts to stall her, Bonnie watched Kai lower his hands and settle himself a foot from her on the bar, setting his back to it and supporting himself on his elbows. He spotted the blood bag she had set out and grabbed it, the veins under his eyes bulging as his fangs grew and he bit into the bag, groaning long and hard as he had his first taste of blood in three years. The bag was empty in seconds and it was obvious he was struggling to control himself and even more obvious that he was avoiding looking at her.
He didn’t want to hurt her delicate sensibilities. How cute.
It took him a moment but once he got his hunger under control he cleared his throat and tried for an unaffected tone. He was annoyingly good at it.
“Well, the last time I tried to play hero,” he rasped, fixing a look at her, “I got screwed over by an extremely hot witch. I’m a smart cookie, Bonnie-boo, I learn my lessons quickly. No one there is worth the effort. They’ll rope me in and cause more problems for me to solve with the threat of sending me back down here if I don’t and I’ll end up being their bitch for all of eternity.” He flashed her a blood-stained smile, making an obvious show of checking her out, “And there’s only one person I’d ever let order me around and it definitely isn't Salva-whore and prissy girlfriend.”
She shrugged, “Works for me. I order you to help Mystic Falls.”
Kai let out a laugh that had him almost doubled over.
“Now, Bonnie! We both know that’s not how this works! I’m a crazy sociopath, remember? I don’t have compassion or empathy and I don’t want to make things easy for you. What do I get out of this deal? A lesser prison sentence doesn't sound enticing enough.”
It was a gamble. It had been Alaric, funnily enough, who relented and accepted it as a last resort. They all knew Kai wouldn’t take the bait of a lesser sentence. It was annoying but something she had wholly expected - Kai Parker never went for second best.
“Your freedom.”
His brows rose in mock surprise, “Now just what did the Scooby-gang get up to this time? It must be pretty bad if you’re throwing everything down into the pot. Who is it? Is it Satan again? Or someone worse? Katherine? Someone worse? Is there anyone worse than Katherine?”
Yes, you.
“Just a group of witches, like I told you.”
“A group of witches. You’re willing to unleash me back onto Earth because of some witches? Just how badass are these witches that you and your motley crew can’t take of them yourself?”
“For your information, it isn’t that I can’t,” she lied easily, “I don’t want to. I’ve got a job and a life of my own and I don’t want to get involved.”
“And so you really do want to turn me into the Salva-whores’ bitch?” Kai hummed out a glum noise, “That’s mean, Bonnie. I thought we had something.”
Bonnie was getting tired. She needed to get back to the real world and back to Salem. He’d probably be getting antsy in her Grams’ place and the last thing she needed was torn up furniture.
“You’re crazier than I thought then. Besides, isn’t your freedom worth some hazing?”
“There’s something more going on here, and I will find out about it,” he promised, his smile dropping into that neutral expression that used to unnerve her. “But for now, I only have one condition.”
Bonnie sighed loudly, “And what would that be?”
“You take me with you - I am not staying in Mystic Falls.”
“You want to go with me to California?” she asked, her tone dry.
“Ohh, I didn’t know you were in California! I suggest we hit up Venice - I really wanna see you in a bikini.” she sent him a look and he flashed his teeth at her, “Anyway, yes, take me with you.”
A small voice in her head told her to just accept but Bonnie knew Kai better than most. He was plotting something and she knew she had to be responsible and get to the bottom of it.
“Why?”
“Cause I don’t want to be apart from you,” his smile was teasing, his eyes were mocking. Bonnie blinked slowly at him. Kai rolled his eyes, his smile dropping. “Fine, I just want to get away from those fuckers in Mystic Falls and something tells me that wherever you’ve settled, they haven’t been bothering you.”
Bonnie was tempted to put an end to this, to lock him back into his chair, turn the Spin Doctor’s greatest hits back on, go back home and apologize to her friends. But if those witches were serious then innocent people would get hurt - people who had nothing to do with the bullshit the supernatural folk of Mystic Falls always seemed to bring down onto them. And so it was for them, she told herself, that she relented.
“Fine. But if you hurt anyone, Kai, you’re being sent right back here.”
“Yeah, yeah, no drinking, no drugs, gotta be home by ten - I get it.”
“I’m being serious, Kai.”
His eyes settled on hers. They were blank.
“So am I. I won’t hurt anyone but the ones you let me, fine?” Weary and wary, Bonnie nodded. Kaid did as well and raised his wrist up to check the time, “Now that we’ve got our binding vows out of the way, happy hour is going to start at the Grill in ten minutes so if we could haul ass, that’d be great.”
Kai held out his hand. Bonnie pushed away from the bar and headed out. With a low laugh, Kai followed after her.
~ * ~
Elena met them at the front door of the boarding house, biting her lip dramatically as she considered inviting Kai in. Bonnie tried not to roll her eyes at her friend’s dramatics considering how much she had pushed Bonnie into bringing him out of his prison cell. Instead she waited. Kai seemed equally unimpressed and as soon as he was allowed in, he made a beeline for their fridge, opening it up with little preamble and rooting around.
“How are you and Bonnie alive at the same time?”
“Bonnie broke the curse,” Elena replied, smug.
“Of course she did,” he grumbled, something that wasn’t annoyance but something else lacing it. “Hey. Where is the blood?”He called, “And the jam? Do you seriously not eat jam?”
Elena stiffened, “We aren’t giving you anymore.”
“Vampires need to drink blood, Eliza,” Kai explained slowly, “And if you want me to take care of your witchy problem, I kinda need to be in peak performance. Bonnie, tell her to give me some,” he pouted dramatically, “Pretty please?”
“Tough,” Elena scoffed, “Bonnie told us you don’t need as much blood as a full vampire. The blood bag she gave you should be more than enough.”
Kai closed the fridge door slowly and leaned against it. His expression was unreadable as he studied first Elena and then Bonnie. Bonnie wondered if he would attack them. If he would snap Elena’s neck, rip out her throat and escape. And neither of them had any actual leverage - just the guise that Bonnie wasn’t weak to keep Kai acting like a good boy. This was riskier than standing toe-to-toe with Cade.
And like a flip of a coin, his mind was made. Kai’s face brightened up, his eyebrows pushing up together as he cooed.
“Bon talks about me?”
Bonnie tipped her head back, counted to ten and wandered away to the living room. She could hear Kai asking about Damon and Elena replying - guarded and cold. Damon’s ever reliable drink station was where it always was and Bonnie picked up the first bottle she found and poured out a generous thumb into a glass. Whiskey - great. Elena and Kai’s back-and-forth continued while Bonnie downed another thumb and eventually the pair migrated to the living room where Bonnie had made herself home on one of the long leather sofas, nursing her drink as she rubbed at her temple.
The Ascendant had called for a lot of power and she could already feel a headache coming.
“God, I forgot how annoying your squeaky voice was.”
“And I can’t believe we actually have to let you out, if it weren’t for-”
The spell was out of Bonnie’s mouth before she realised. Elena gasped mutely and found she couldn’t get a word out. A wave of dizziness came over Bonnie and she pushed it aside, mustering up her anger in its stead.
Anger was good. Anger she could afford - weakness she could not.
Least of all with Kai’s annoyingly sharp eyes on her. Bonnie was good, but Kai was better. God she was too tired for all of this.
“Elena, I’ll deal with this. Why don’t you head back to work?”
The spell disappeared and the dismissal in her tone wasn’t lost on anybody. Stiffly, more than a little hurt, Elena nodded and left. Bonnie felt bad and she knew she would have to apologize later. But at the moment, she just sank further into the sofa and drained her third shot of whiskey, setting the glass on the wide arm of the sofa.
“The Bonnie I knew would never spell her friends shut, no matter how annoying.”
“Maybe the Bonnie you knew has changed.”
Kai hummed, “Yeah, I’m starting to see a lot of things have.”
“Moving on, the witches,” Bonnie leaned back and made herself comfortable, readying herself for another mental battle, “Apparently they don’t have any formal training since their mother died and no coven took them in but they’re especially good at Expressive magic.”
“Same as you.”
Bonnie grunted, feeling almost tickled that he remembered, “I haven’t done a locator spell yet,” because she couldn’t, not without a lot of rest afterwards, “but Damon managed to snag a scrap of cloth when he went to confront them, so we can use that and use that fast. They’re eager to tear a warpath through Mystic Falls and have given us a day to bring Caroline and Stefan forward before they do.”
“So give them up.”
“We can’t do that, Kai,” Bonnie sighed, as if speaking to an especially stubborn child, “That’s kinda the whole point.”
“Why not though? They’re reaping what they sowed. I killed - what - four people? And I went to prison for twenty years. I think it’s perfectly fair that Steve and Coroline get some punishment too.” He crossed his arms and leaned back, looking almost petulant - which was funny considering he was a twenty-something homicidal maniac.
“We can’t because Stefan and Caroline won’t survive whatever punishment they deliver.” Bonnie didn’t think it would help their case if Kai found out Caroline and Stefan were missing. It wasn’t like Mystic Falls held any good memories for him after all - no need to fuel the fire.
“Oh, that’s a good excuse. Set her in front of the Parker Tribunal and see if that’d fly. No, I’m out. I thought maybe some asshats were threatening this shithole but if they’re just out for revenge I don’t see what the problem is."
Bonnie’s headache was turning into a full-blown migraine, she groaned out “Kai-”
“Sorry, Bonster,” he said, his tone mocking, “Looks like you’ll have to involve yourself if you wanna keep Ken and Barbie from becoming witch chew-toys.” He opened his mouth to continue his tirade when Bonnie cut in.
“I can’t.”
That gave Kai pause, “Can’t what?”
“I can’t involve myself.”
“And why can’t you.”
Bonnie shot him a dark look, “That’s none of your business.”
The living room was quiet as they stared at each other. Bonnie, with her head pulsing painfully as her brain tried to split in two, and Kai, with a blank expression. Only the distant tick-tock of the grandfather clock in the corner and the rush of her blood in her veins cut through the silence. Bonnie contemplated having a fourth shot but knew she wouldn’t be able to handle it. She was already buzzed and the migraine wasn’t helping.
“Why not?”
“Because it isn’t.”
“New deal: you tell me why you can’t involve yourself and I’ll help you take care of the witches.”
Bonnie didn’t miss a beat, “No new deal. Instead, how about you keep your word and stick to the old one.”
The smile he flashed her was shark-like, “Sociopath, remember? Deals don’t matter to me.”
“Then how do I know you’ll follow through with this one?”
Kai shrugged, “Easy, I’ll make a blood vow.”
“How about you stop dicking around and just do what you promised.”
“Give me your hand.”
That threw Bonnie off and her heart skipped a beat before she could think to control it. It was too late, to murmur a spell anyway, she saw Kai tilt his head slightly, his nose flaring as he smelt her mounting panic. Stupid vampire hyper-senses.
It was a struggle to keep her voice even, a struggle she won. “No.”
Kai rose up slowly, giving her plenty of time to blast him away with a spell. For a moment, Bonnie was tempted. But she knew if she did, she’d get a nosebleed and she was already at the end of her rope and couldn’t risk doing much more. It was ridiculous how he could make a stroll look predatory. Bonnie eyed him, curling her lips in disgust when he stood in front of her, the fabric of his jeans brushing against her bare knees. He looked down at her, a hand stretched out.
“Give me your hand and I’ll take care of the witches.”
“How about I set you on fire?”
“Do it then. You’ve been threatening me since you showed up but I haven’t gotten so much as a popped blood vessel - and the Bonnie I know loves to see me writhe. So I think I’ll call bluff on your bullshit. Hand, Bonnie. Come on, be a good girl.”
She bore her teeth, pushing against the sofa to create more space between them, wishing (not for the first time) that her power hadn’t weakened to such pathetic levels. The air crackled between them. Kai didn’t need any more encouragement.
His arm shot forward and he grasped her wrist - his icy cold against her warm skin. Bonnie opened her mouth to shout a spell when the familiar but gentler tug-lurch pulled at the bottom of her stomach as her magic was siphoned. An involuntary gasp escaped her. Not even a second passed when something red-hot dropped onto her top life. Kai let go of her instantly, as if burned.
“I didn’t take nearly enough to cause that,” he murmured, looking at his hand and then at her.
Bonnie didn’t reply, instead she focused on settling her breathing and pushing the woozy fog out of her brain. Something soft and cold pressed on her lip and she watched as Kai licked the pad of his thumb, his empty eyes focused intensely on her face. Bonnie blinked and when she reopened her eyes, Kai was kneeling in front of her, a furrow in his brow as he continued to look at her.
“What?” She pushed out, hating how she stumbled over one word.
“What did they do to you, Bonnie Bennett?”
“Who?”
“This won’t do, Bonster,” He said, his voice wavering as a dark look bled into his expression, “You were supposed to be my arch-nemesis. You were supposed to stand right in front of me and push and challenge me. We are supposed to hurt each other and bounce back better than ever. If I fed from you right now, you probably wouldn’t even put up a fight, would you?” He paused, murmuring softly to himself, almost too softly, “No, you couldn’t.”
Bonnie understood the words Kai was saying but somehow in the middle of stringing them together the meaning got lost. Whatever it was though, that eerily calm tone spelt bad things. And Bonnie knew she had to do something about it. But her body was heavy and her mind was stuffed with cotton and she was finding it hard to remember how any of this was her problem.
“You’re in luck, Bonnie. For the first time I’ll actually hold up my end of the bargain. But when I get back, we’re going to have a nice long chat and then I’m going to decide if the ex-supernatural pests in this town deserve to keep their heads or if I get to practice my football skills with their skulls.”
That rapidly quieting voice in the back of her mind told Bonnie to stop Kai and so she drunkenly lurched forward, grabbing the end of his shirt when he rose back up. He tipped a brow up but Bonnie’s tongue was leaden and the voice had gone so quiet she wasn’t sure where she was supposed to do. With cold, careful hands, Kai extracted his shirt from his grip and turned around. Between one slow blink and the next, Kai was gone and the sofa was becoming more and more inviting.
Promising herself it would only be a short nap, she settled her head down and closed her eyes.
~ * ~
When Bonnie’s eyes fluttered open, she found she was facing the familiar wooden walls of the Salvatore’s guest room. Her fingers curled into the sheets and for three gut-wrenching seconds, she thought she was back in 1994. And then the memories of the day flooded back to her and she relaxed her death-grip on the luxurious sheets. A questioning meow sounded from her side brought her attention to Salem.
He tilted his head to one side, regarding her with his intelligent yellow eyes. Bonnie reached out a hand and scratched the back of his ear- he closed his eyes and purred as deep and loud as Damon’s Chevy. Bonnie smiled, Salem pushed his head further into her hand.
“I wish you’d pet me like that.”
And like that, her peace was shattered. Bonnie hurried to sit up, Salem’s eyes shot open and he leapt to her other side, his tail swishing as they both regarded Kai.
He had changed. Out of his dark t-shirt and dark jeans into a dark t-shirt and light blue jeans. He was sprawled sideways on the sofa by the window, one leg thrown over the arm, the other planted firmly on the ground. Her very first grimoire was in his hands and he flicked through the pages. Bonnie had forgotten to pack that during her flight out of Mystic Falls. She had forgotten quite a lot of things.
It was odd, Bonnie knew she should have felt something negative watching Malachai Parker - her sworn enemy - going through such a deeply personal possession but there was nothing. She didn’t want to inspect it, instead she focused on the problem at hand.
“How long was I out?”
“Five hours.”
Her eyes widened.
“What about the-”
“The witches have been taken care of. A positive cake-walk for the all-powerful leader of the Gemini Coven.” Kai kept his nose firmly between the pages. Salem snuffled and sneezed, Bonnie gave his ear an affectionate scratch. Kai shot a glance at her familiar and turned back to the grimoire, “That stupid furball scratched me when I tried to pick him up. Wouldn’t calm down until I told him I was taking him back to you. Even then, he was giving me shit; yowling like an absolute menace.”
“Good boy, Salem,” Bonnie couldn’t help but grin as her familiar meowed back, “Next time, aim for his eyes.”
Kai muttered something under his breath and closed her grimoire, carefully tucking it to the side of the sofa before he turned, planting both his feet onto the ground and settling his full attention onto her. Bonnie stroked Salem’s fur and he continued to purr, staring at Kai with half-open eyes.
“Time to have our chat. I’ll start, how did you become so useless?”
Bonnie winced, though she should have been prepared with how quickly he went for the kill. The option of not answering him was always present, but Bonnie didn’t want to know what methods he would employ to make her talk now that he knew she didn’t pose any threat. Letting him out had been a massive mistake and Bonnie would have to tread very carefully if she was going to stall for enough time to gather her strength and send him back. And her plan to stall would have to begin, unfortunately, with the truth. Everything came at a cost with Kai.
No, not just him. But with everything related to Mystic Falls.
Oddly enough, Kai didn’t press her to speak. He just sat there, with his hands clasped between his knees, his head tilted to one side as he regarded her openly. Bonnie wasn’t sure how long they sat there, her hand going over Salem’s fur almost robotically as she wrangled with how much of the truth she should reveal.
“Turns out channelling all the powers of the previous Bennett witches can take a lot out of a person.”
“Did they know?”
There was no question about who “they” were.
Bonnie nodded then paused, “Not the full extent. They know I’ve become weaker, but they don’t know by how much.”
“And as usual, in a fit of suicidal bravado, you threw yourself into harm’s way without telling anyone. Classic Bonnie, at least you’re predictable.” Kai tilted his head the other way, “Well, that, and that even if your friends did know, they’d still probably do this to you, wouldn’t they.”
“Could you cut the crap and stop acting like you know everything.”
He shrugged, “Women love confident men. Oh, and I ran into Damon when I came back - he hasn’t changed much either, didn’t even get a new wardrobe - anyway, I came back and the first thing he had to say to me was that you would send me back to my little prison world if I stepped a toe out of line.” Kai’s face broke out into a smile and his eyes crinkled but it was so impossibly mean Bonnie had to turn her face away, “I actually cannot believe how stupid he was. You were unconscious in his guest bedroom and he was making threats on behalf of a witch who can barely use her magic. How funny is that?” His smile froze as a thought passed through his head, “No, not funny, it’s ironic. Right. I was getting better at this,” he mumbled to himself, “Watched youtube videos and everything before you chained me up.”
“If you’re going to kill us, just get it over with. I’d prefer not to hear you prattle on if I can help it.”
Kai clicked his tongue, “Bonnie, Bonnie, Bonnie. Where would the fun be in that? Harassing you is so much more fun. Death is too permanent and I want to have fun with you. And if I maim you, you’re way too useless right now to even heal yourself.”
The dig stung and the way his lips twisted in glee, she knew he knew it. Bastard.
“What’s your master plan then?”
“You and I are going to tour the world.”
“What?”
“You and I are going to tour the world and find all the magical stores of energy there are. We’re going to build you back up into the badass witch that you are and then we’re going to have some fun.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
Kai clicked his tongue, “No good girl should use language like that-”
“Fuck you.”
“-Anyway, you asked me for my master plan and I told you. We’re getting your magic back. Life’s too boring if my nemesis can’t even put up a good fight.”
“Are you being serious right now?”
“Serious as death,” he grinned. “So, I’d suggest we make a stop to California first so you can pack up your bags and then we can begin our tour. Nova Scotia is the perfect pit-stop, but I’m pretty sure Asia is teeming with magic, plenty of places in Europe too. Ohh, we can hit up some places in Africa - Port-au-Prince is pretty hot this time of year though, so I suggest you pack thinner clothes.” He winked, “Or none at all.”
Bonnie shook her head, raising a hand as if that would stop Kai’s incessant stream of chatter. Somehow it did and he waited, his lips tipped up in a half-smile as he watched her. The sequence of events Bonnie had expected was completely derailed and she wasn’t sure where the train was going.
“Why are you doing this?”
Kai rolled his eyes, “Come on, Bon. I know you’re weaker now but you shouldn’t be sumber. I told you twice already, I want to make you strong again so you can be my nemesis. I always wanted one growing up and you fit the bill nicely.”
“So, what, you’re going to help me get stronger and then what?”
“We’ll see,” he shrugged easily, “After being stuck in three different world prisons - and Hell - I’ve come to realise my plans never really come to fruition. So, as long as I have a hazy goal in front of me, I should be golden. And my hazy goal for now is to bring you back up to scruff. If what you said was true, and you had the power of all the Bennett witches, then it’s gonna take a lot of power to get you as strong as I want you to be.”
Kai slapped his thighs and got to his feet, easily towering over where Salem and Bonnie still sat on the bed. Salem’s eyes narrowed as he glared at Kai and Kai childishly narrowed his own in turn.
“Why would I agree to this?”
Kai’s smile was dazzling, his eyes bright and teeth brighter, “Why? Because if you don’t, I’ll kill everyone you love in the most gruesome ways imaginable and as you are right now, you can’t do shit to me. So if you want to avoid such a grisly fate for your friends, I highly suggest we haul ass so we can make it to California before we’re both geriatrics.”
Bonnie looked at him - really looked at him. She couldn’t detect any lie. Then again, Kai was fabulous at lying, the scar on her chest was living proof of that. He let his smile drop so his face was blank. He wasn’t lying.
“You’re really helping me?” Her skepticism poisoned the words.
“I’m really helping you.”
“Why?”
“Because, Bonnie Bennett,” Impossibly, his neutral expression seemed to soften into something almost human. Almost. “No one else is ever allowed to kill you except me. And I have to make sure you can protect yourself until then. So,” he held his hand out, “if my threats to the well-being of your loved ones landed home like they were supposed to, this is the part where you take my hand and we book it out of this cesspool to the nearest airport.”
Bonnie considered it. Really, actually considered it. No alarm bells blared in her head like they should have. She wondered if Kai had cast a spell on her to make her complacent, but that wasn’t his style.
“If I agree to this, we are going to have some rules.”
Kai let his head drop dramatically but his hand remained exactly where it was, reaching, waiting.
“Doesn’t it always with you. But, whatever, I love it when you get all bossy witch on me.”
Bonnie chose to ignore that comment, staring instead at his hands as she mulled over what to say. He had nice fingers - focus.
“One, no killing anyone. And I mean anyone.”
“What if they want to hurt us?”
“Incapacitate them.”
“Fine.”
“Two, no feeding from the vein. You want blood, hunt animals or drink from blood bags.”
“Ugh, but blood bags-” he stopped when he saw her glare at him and he raised his other hand in surrender, “fine, fine.”
“Three, Salem has to fly with us - I don’t want him in the luggage area, he’s scared of loud noises.”
Kai’s eyes dropped to her cat and the disgust was evident. Salem didn’t hide his displeasure either.
“Whatever, I’m sure compelling an entire plane won’t be too difficult. Are you done or do we have more rules to go over?”
Bonnie bit her lip. Was she really doing this?
“Four, we’re going to stay in luxury hotels.”
Kai squinted his eyes at her, “You do realise some of these witchy artifacts are in the middle of butt-fuck nowhere, right? Like, I’d be surprised if there was running water or electricity let alone a Four Seasons.
Bonnie shrugged, finally getting into her stride. If she was going to do something stupid, might as well enjoy it.
“Conjure up something then, aren't you supposed to be the “all-powerful leader of the Gemini Coven”?”
“Ohh, using my words against me. Very hot.”
“Oh, and you’re cooking.”
“Good God, if I knew you’d be so high-maintenance as a nemesis I would have settled for someone else.”
Bonnie raised a brow, “So you don’t want to go through with this?”
“I never said that. I’ll do it, whatever. Can you like, take my hand or slap it away or something? It’s kinda starting to hurt right now.”
Bonnie hesitated a moment as she reached up. Her fingers glided over his. His skin was so painfully cold against hers but the electricity that ran through her had nothing to do with him siphoning her magic. Their eyes locked. His fingers grasped hers and they shook twice firmly. Kai didn’t let go and Bonnie didn’t pull back.
The thought that he could drain her of her magic and leave her for dead didn't even cross her mind.
“We’re really doing this?” she whispered.
“We’re really doing this.”
“And you really will follow the rules?”
“As best as I can.”
“Kai-”
“I won’t hesitate to kill someone if they try to kill you. I told you, only I’m allowed to do that. We’ve got to follow my master plan, after all.”
Bonnie breathed in sharply. The declaration - as morbid as it was - shouldn’t have warmed her up the way it did. Swallowing around the lump in her throat, a small, wary smile slipped on her face. Kai squeezed her hand, his blank expression oddly comforting.