Nothing Dark Can Stay, Either

Chapter 9

It had been a very long time since Beatrix had done magic with a normal witch.

For one, she was pleased that Bonnie trusted her enough. It felt nice to not have her wrists held down so violently.

But when they had prepared the map and the candles, Bonnie had taken her hands without much warning, and Beatrix flinched. Whenever Kai had done that, he had usually siphoned, which hurt.

"Sorry," Bonnie said quickly, looking away, a bit embarrassed. Outside, Damon was throwing around paper airplanes made of newspaper. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"It's alright," said Beatrix gently. "I haven't— um— done this in a really long time."

She was aware of Kai's gaze boring holes into her skull. He was somewhere behind her, watching and waiting. Not wanting her to say the wrong thing and reveal too much.

"You um, look young," Bonnie noticed, looking down to make sure everything was ready. Kai's blood was neatly dropped over the state of Oregon. "Where did you grow up?"

"Are you going to do the spell or grill her on her childhood?" said Kai a bit sharply. He wasn't wanting them to find out about he or Beatrix's real identities yet.

The two women shared an exasperated look. "Let's just start," sighed Beatrix. In unison, they chanted. "Phasmatos Tribum, Nas Ex Veras, Sequitas Sanguinem."

Bonnie peeked down at the map and frowned. "It doesn't feel right. Maybe we need a bigger map?"

"Maybe you're just out of practice and you suck at magic now," taunted Damon, coming back in and dropping a newspaper on the table.

Kai stood and came closer. "Ignore him, Bonnie," he urged. "Pretend he's a white-noise machine. That's how I used to tune out my siblings. I grew up with a ton of little sisters and brothers. You know, all of them constantly yammering." He moved closer to body, letting his body lean in. "But it taught me how to focus..."

"Easy there, big brother!" Damon said sharply, since it looked like Kai was about to kiss Bonnie. "She doesn't know you. At least buy her a drink."

"Not every woman requires a drink before giving in," Kai said, smirking in amusement. "Why ruin someone's sobriety for entertainment? Beatrix didn't need a drink."

Bonnie's eyes widened. "Wait... you two—?"

"Not a thing, no," hissed Beatrix, shooting Kai a murderous glare.

"Define, 'thing,'" Kai prompted. "Cause it happened... several times."

"I'm going to burn this revelation out of my memory," Bonnie blurted out, covering her ears as she left, seemingly to retrieve a bigger map.

"Thanks a lot, Kai," Beatrix snapped as Damon made a weird face.

When Bonnie returned with a bigger map, she refrained from looking at Beatrix when they linked hands. "Phasmatos Tribum, Nas Ex Veras, Sequitas Sanguinem. Phasmatos Tribum, Nas Ex Veras, Sequitas Sanguinem."

"The spell's moving towards Virginia," Kai said, looking over Beatrix's shoulder. "That can't be right..."

"Mhm, the spell's working," confirmed Bonnie. "It's showing me Mystic Falls. It feels so... close." She came closer to Kai and held up her hand. The flames on the candles shot up, and she narrowed her eyes at him. "It's right here." She let her hand press onto his chest, and the flames extinguished. With a devilish smirk, Kai extracted the ascendant from his jacket pocket. "Very good."

"That's the Ascendant?" Bonnie asked.

Kai nodded, with a smug grin. "The one and only."

Damon let out a soft growl. "Thanks for the mind games, jackass." He turned to Beatrix. "You are really starting to get on my nerves..."