Pernicious | Kai Parker

Chapter 53

 "Happy now?"

Kai and Amelia were pleased, but not happy. They looked up at each other, each detaching from their respective victim, before shaking their heads and going back to feeding.

"Oh, for the love of god," groaned Damon, watching each of their victims slump back, dead. The Heretics ignored him and pushed the bodies into the nearby dumpster, though Kai stopped to remove his man's wallet.

"Alright, let's see what we got here," he said, showing Amelia the contents. "Oh, hey, another fishing spot for us— a law office, just a few blocks away. Talk about bang for your buck, am I right? I'm right."

Damon snatched the card away from him, and tossed it in the trash, saying, "Forget all these random kills," at the same time that Kai whined, "I wasn't done with that."

"I know it'll save the both of you," said Damon, "but we're under a bit of a time crunch now. See, the boss found out that you're here. Cade's coming for you."

Amelia frowned. "How do you know that? Did he tell you he's on his way?"

Damon rolled his eyes. "I don't have an exact E.T.A., but you know how impatient he gets."

Kai put his hands together like he was going to pray, resting his thumbs on his chin and looking at Amelia, as if this would give him some bright idea. "Oh... okay. What do we do, what do we do? What do we do?"

"I know what to do," said Damon casually.

Amelia held up her hand. "Well then, spit it the fuck out, we don't have all day." This was the part where they had to be careful. This was the part where he could try and trick them.

"We find a way to redeem you, so you don't have to go to Hell."

"What are you talking about?" Kai scoffed.

"I'm talking about atonement," said Damon, as if he was speaking to a five-year-old. "I'm talking about a giant, noble gesture of selfless generosity."

Kai gritted his teeth. "I hate this already."

Damon shrugged. "You need something that's gonna push you over the edge in the eyes of Cade. Something to make up for all the pain that you've caused. Amy, you used to be good. You wanted to be a doctor, and save lives. And you," he looked at Kai, waving his hand in the air a bit dismissively, "I'm sure you had some good qualities, because Amy here was nice enough to take pity on you before you turned her into a sociopath."

The two Heretics made to argue, but decided against it. "What's this big act of redemption, then?" asked Amelia. "What does Cade want us to do, so he can grant us pardon?"

Damon cast them a cheeky smile. "Oh, it's not up to him. It's up to me. People do forgive. And when they do, redemption is possible. I know that. Which is why, if you want my forgiveness, you're gonna bring Elena Gilbert back to life. Right now."

Amelia and Kai shared a look, and had a silent conversation. One, Damon was bluffing— he had no power anymore, and Cade wouldn't pardon them on his authority. Two, Cade never pardoned anyone, Katherine had made it quite clear. It didn't matter that Kai and Amelia each had good in them. It would never make up for the bad things they'd done.

"Fine," said Kai, "we'll do it. Drive us to where Eleanor is, and we'll wake her up. You better bring a body, though, cause she's gonna be super hungry." (A/N: Recall, Elena never took the cure in this story, so she's in her coma as a vampire.)

Damon reluctantly took one of the still-alive victims and shoved it into the trunk, driving the four to the Salvatore crypt. Kai and Amelia tried to stay quiet and calm, hands linked as they conversed in their head, formulating a plan that they could agree on.