An Elemental Difference - FIRE - Book 2 (Stefan Salvatore)

Chapter 70 - Smile, you're on candid camera

MARTIN HOUSEHOLD

Jeremy's lip curled in disgust as Bonnie and Anna stepped into the dimly lit house. "What are we doing here, Bonnie?" His eyes briefly grazed over Luka's lifeless body on the floor before quickly turning away.

Bonnie led the way, her steps hesitant as she too caught sight of Luka's corpse. "The grimoires," she murmured, her voice tinged with unease.

Anna, no stranger to death's cold touch, moved past her boyfriend and Jeremy to kneel beside Luka. "What do you want to do?" she asked softly, her eyes searching Bonnie's troubled expression.

Jeremy knocked on the wall, breaking the heavy silence. "We could burn the place; it'll probably be labeled as an accident?"

Bonnie's gaze snapped to Jeremy, her eyes swimming with unshed tears. "Don't be disrespectful. Not to him."

Anna offered a gentler suggestion: "We can bury him somewhere nice, like we did for Mason."

But Bonnie seemed distracted, her attention drawn back to Luka's lifeless form. Ignoring Anna's proposal, she marched past her friends toward Jonas's desk. Her heart sank as she found it empty. "That's not right," she murmured, her brows furrowing in confusion.

Jeremy assisted Anna to her feet, his gaze piercing as he addressed Bonnie. "What exactly are we looking for?"

Bonnie paced the cramped space, her anxiety palpable. "According to Luka's dad, there was a grimoire here containing a spell. It'll let me harness the energy left behind when a witch dies violently." Her hands pressed against the empty desk futilely, as if searching for answers in the wood. "The books were here," she muttered, frustration evident in her voice. Then, as if struck by inspiration, she closed her eyes and whispered something under her breath. When she reopened them, her expression had shifted. "Aella was here. She's taken them."

Anna exchanged a puzzled glance with Jeremy, questioning Bonnie's sudden insight. "How do you know that?"

Bonnie's smile was cryptic as she moved closer to them. Bonnie's eyes closed for a quick second before the lights flickered on and off.

Jeremy's jaw dropped. "Did you...?"

"How?" Anna echoed, her disbelief mirrored in her tone.

But Bonnie's smile was enigmatic as she approached them, her voice lowered conspiratorially. "When he grabbed me... he gave me my powers back, and something else. Jonas wants me to kill Klaus. If I can find the spot in town where the old Salem witches were burned, I can harness their energy to use when I need it."

Relief washed over Jeremy, evident in the buoyancy of his voice. "Without Elena having to die?"

Bonnie's eyes gleamed with newfound confidence. "I'm pretty sure."

Jeremy chuckled with relief, but Anna remained cautious. "How sure? Why would Aella allow Elena to be sacrificed if this was another way?"

Bonnie's gaze hardened on Anna, her expression unreadable. But Jeremy interjected with optimism, his grin infectious. "All I care about is that my sister stays alive. You said Aella took the books; do we have to find them and then locate the spell?"

Bonnie turned her attention back to Jonas's desk, her mind swirling with newfound determination. With a deep breath, she shook her head. "I don't think so." Her eyes narrowed on the shelves behind the desk, a sense of intuition guiding her. Closing her eyes, Bonnie raised her hands, commanding the books on the shelves to fall. Amidst the chaos, one book remained, hovering in the air, drawn to her like a magnet. Bonnie reached out, her fingers brushing against the tome's spine as she brought it closer.