chapter rating: teen/pg-13
word count: 6,635

xv.

The knife fell abruptly, and slid down Damon's chest to land loose and unoffending in his lap. Damon exhaled, steady despite the hitch in his heart. For just a second, he'd flashed to the past, to the blade pressed up against Bonnie's throat as they shoved him down to his knees. But Jeremy had paused, and then stopped.

"Smarter than you look, Gilbert." Damon was on his feet in a flash. He grabbed Jeremy by the front of his shirt and had him up against a wall. Eyes lit with fire, he bit out, "You're making me regret keeping you alive… I have enough regrets. I don't need you hanging over my head, too."

Jeremy choked, the pressure of his chest making it difficult to breathe. "'s the hunter's curse," he sputtered.

Damon's brow furrowed. "What about it?"

"Don't know… what it's… like." His head fell back, neck strained, as he shifted, trying to get away from the weight against his lungs. Pointlessly, he pulled at Damon's immoveable wrist. "It's in my head… always… Used to be able to control it… But ever since… the town's been overrun…"

Nodding, Damon motioned with his other hand to hurry it up. "Yeah, yeah, you've got some annoying little voice in your head telling you to kill every vampire in sight."

"Not just vampires."

Frowning now, Damon released him, and watched as he fell, gasping for air and rubbing at his chest. "Say again?"

"It's not just… vampires." He was panting, and more than a little red-faced, but Jeremy pushed back up to stand and face Damon properly. "It's everything. Witches, werewolves, anything with magic in them… When the curse first started, it was only bloodsuckers. Since my sister was one, I had to get that under control, and I did. It wasn't easy, but I did. But when this whole apocalypse was triggered, so was I. Suddenly everything magical was on my target list. I don't know if it's just because there's so many of them or what, but it's always there. I've tried to keep it at bay, hunting down vamps and killing off Kai's heretics. But the stronger the magical force, the more a part of me just hates it. No reason, it just does."

"Uh-huh… So, you thought you'd go big or go home and take me out?"

"I wanted to. Just being near you makes my skin crawl." Jeremy shook his head. "But I've got your memories on repeat in my brain. I can still remember what it felt like to hold Dysin when he was born. I remember the sound of M'Kenna laughter and Neci's voice. And if I try and focus on that, if I block everything out and just think about that, it fades a little. Enough that I can think again."

"And what are you trying to think about?"

Jeremy stared up at him, his mouth set in a frown. "What you said before, about this being my history too, that I've got magic in me, you're right… Look, I don't know why my magic is rebelling, why it makes me want to hunt everyone, but it does. And I don't want it to. I want to be normal again. I want to be able to hug my sister without thinking of three different ways I could kill her. But more than that, I want this magic to mean something. The whole damn world could blow tomorrow, and the only legacy I'm leaving behind is one chock full of betrayal."

"Yeah, I can't guarantee the Bennetts won't string you up next time they see you…" He raised an eyebrow. "They wouldn't be wrong, either."

"No, they wouldn't. Look, I was tracking Kai's heretics to kill them, not because I'm on their side. When I realized the witches were getting together for something, I knew it had to do with raising Bonnie. The hunter in me couldn't let that happen, so I made a decision. A bad one. I used a phone I jacked off one of Kai's heretics to get in touch with him. I told him I thought the Bennetts were making a move and he should do something about it. I didn't think he'd steal the body. I thought they'd be too power-hungry to think of that. All that power, right there for the taking. If they drained her, maybe all of this could end. It was short-sighted, I know that now. I can't change what I did, but I won't do it again."

Damon's eyes narrowed. "Does that include trying to slit my throat, or…?"

"Your magic is getting stronger, it triggered my hunting instinct." His mouth screwed him and his nose wrinkled. "You stink of magic."

"Really? I thought I'd smell more like brimstone and ash." He looked down at himself. "I recently vacayed in Hell. Mom got new drapes. They're nice."

Jeremy blinked at him. "Okay…"

"Look, I don't know much about the hunter's gene. Just whatever Stefan's picked up. But I do know that you can only blame so much of your actions on someone else. So, if you want to play the victim card, go ahead, but there's no free passes here. Pull your weight or I'll make you demon chow. Deal?"

Jeremy frowned, but nodded. "Deal."

"Great. Now… you interrupted my slow descent into beauty sleep, so I'm gonna go Goldilocks my way around upstairs and find a place to rest up. Tomorrow promises to be even more exhausting than today." He pushed past him then, and walked around the couch. Picking Malia up in one easy swoop, he started for the hall. "Sleep tight, don't the let the bed bugs bite."

"I'm not staying. I have somewhere else to be." Jeremy followed him out and then split directions to head for the door, where he paused. "Hey… Can I ask you something?"

Damon looked back at him, one leg lifted onto a stair. "What?"

"What happens if you fix it? If you stop the apocalypse and save the world…? Where do you go after?"

Staring back at him a beat, Damon shook his head. "Your guess is as good as mine."

With a hum, Jeremy nodded, and then he turned, and walked out the door.

Malia shifted in Damon's arms and frowned in her sleep. "Five more minutes," she mumbled.

Damon's mouth hitched up, amused. "Sleep all you want, Kid. You're gonna need your rest."

...

Bonnie's hands were shaking. She sat on the corner of a bed, staring down at them, a vibration flowing throughout her body, from her head down to her toes. She could feel her bones and her veins and every hair follicle on her person. She could feel the blood pumping inside of her, the opening and closing of each valve of her heart. More than herself, she could feel it in everything else, too. She could feel the life force of every living thing around her. The flowers in the forest bed, their petals closed tight. Droplets of dew sliding down blades of green grass. A crow, perched high on the porch; watching, seeing, guarding. Lydia's power; pulsing inside of her, a shadow creeping ever stronger, threatening to consume or liberate. The wolves; panting, running, circling the woods, patrolling and protecting. And Damon, far in the distance, at rest now, safe for the time being. She could feel all of it, and it was simultaneously exhausting and invigorating. A combination that left her a little frightened, if she were being honest.

"You're extending yourself too far…" M'Kenna stepped into the bedroom and circled the bed to take a seat next to her mother. She reached out and covered one of Bonnie's hands with her own. "It was a risk, moving the house like that. All to make a statement."

"Your father used to be the theatrical one…" Bonnie pursed her lips. "I had to make it clear to him that I would not be argued with. He cannot change my mind on this. We must return your brother and sister to this plane."

M'Kenna hummed, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. "And if we cannot?"

She turned to look at her, her brow furrowed. "You doubt me?"

"I doubt many things…" M'Kenna smiled faintly. "Never you."

"Then what?"

"The world. That it might give us our justice." M'Kenna stared at her searchingly. "I cried for you every day for a year. I felt it, the moment your soul was torn from you. I knew when you died. How you died. And that you were thinking of me, of all of us, when you were taken."

Bonnie reached for M'Kenna, and cupped her face lovingly. "I'm so sorry. That you had to run, that you lived in fear and sadness… That you felt what I felt."

"I still do. I feel your rage, your hatred, your loneliness… Even with us here, even having father back, a part of you is still lost to that side."

"I lingered there for so long, I didn't think I would ever return. I never thought I would see you again." She rubbed her thumbs along M'Kenna's cheeks. "You are so beautiful… even more than I imagined."

"Well, you are just as beautiful as I remember."

Bonnie laughed, but her eyes stung with tears. "I missed you. Every day, I missed you."

M'Kenna nodded. "And I you."

"I cannot make the hurt end. I cannot douse the fire of my anger. Not yet. Not until I know that our justice has been found."

"Momma… what if vengeance is not what we need?"

Bonnie raised her chin. "I suppose we will find out."

M'Kenna sighed, and nodded in deference.

...

It was late. Well past two in the morning, and most of Mikaelson Mansion had gone to bed, including the Bennetts. All but Lucy. Her nerves were too shot for that. Instead, she was patrolling through the overindulgent house, keeping an eye out for any number of enemies that could try to make a move while they were vulnerable.

Lucy wouldn't call it curiosity, exactly, that had her walking down to the room Kai was being held in. A wariness was flooding through her. While his powers were effectively shut down, there were ways around every spell and curse, and given the current situation, she wouldn't be surprised if he'd done just that.

The other heretics were still strung up and passed out, she'd walked past the rooms they were hid away in before directing her feet toward Kai.

She was nearly there when she heard a noise. A thud. She whirled around, eyes wide and darting in every direction.

But there was nothing. She was alone.

Or that was what it looked like.

A chill ran up her spine and a whoosh of air rushed past on her left side. She turned with it, her mind running almost too quickly to grab onto anything concrete. A revealing spell, that was what she needed. But before her lips could form around a word, a hand was around her throat, and she was pinned to a wall.

The charm covering her attacker slowly fell away; like liquid, it revealed parts of him at a time. Silver blonde hair, one blue eye and one brown, with skin like marble and a ring around his lower lip. He raised a finger to his mouth and stared her down. "Shhh…"

His grip on her throat kept her from breathing, let alone speaking.

Lucy's legs kicked out as her lungs seized, but he hardly noticed, instead turning to see Kai step out of the room he was kept in, pulling on a suit jacket over his torn shirt, blood dripping from various open wounds on his chest and neck.

Behind him, a woman appeared, dripping into existence, like paint sliding down the canvas of her body to reveal them to her eyes. Tall, Asian, with short, choppy blue hair and killer boots on, spiked heel tap-tap-tapping as she walked. "What about the others?" she wondered.

Kai fiddled with his collar. "Leave them. We have work to do."

"And her?" The man in front of Lucy turned back to face her, an eyebrow arched. "I like her. She's spunky."

Lucy bared her teeth at him, even as she felt her face darken, a lack of air making her woozy.

"Kill her. She's a liability."

The man tisked, disappointed.

Eyes rolling, the Asian woman snapped, "Wyatt."

Mouth pursed, Wyatt returned, just as sharply, "Thea."

Blowing out an exasperated sigh, Thea checked the watch on her wrist. "We've been here too long already. Let's go."

Wyatt pursed his lips and gazed at Lucy a beat longer. "Fine," he said, light and airy. His fingers were anything but, digging hard into her throat.

Lucy fumbled a hand against her hip, for the gun clipped to her belt. Regular bullets instead of the wooden ones Alaric had in overwhelming supply. She couldn't get the cover to unclip, and so she turned it upward, still pressed to her side, and dug her finger down until it reached the trigger. Just as her vision was growing black, she squeezed.

The bullet hit Wyatt center in the stomach, but it was the noise that mattered. With it, the lights blinked on, and the house came to life.

Kai and his saviors each turned to each other, cursed, and then abruptly turned tail and ran.

Gasping for air, Lucy sunk down to the floor, a shaking hand pressed to her neck. Panic made it harder to draw a breath and blood rushed in her ears. Tears burned her eyes as she sucked in tiny hiccups of air and slapped a hand against her chest, fear gripping her tight.

"It's okay. Hey, Luce, look at me!" Abby crouched in front of Lucy, a hand on her shoulder, and the other gripping the one banging against her chest. "You're okay. Just calm down and try to breathe."

Lucy looked up at her through bloodshot, teary eyes.

Abby nodded at her, half-smiling. "I got you."

Lucy nodded back, relief coursing through her. It took her a few seconds before she closed her eyes and just focused on those sips of air, lengthening them until they were more significant. The panic was still there, but distant, letting her focus on the moment, on Abby's steady hand and voice. Until finally, she was breathing normally, still a little shaky, but enough that her lungs didn't burn. Her throat was going to be bruised, but at least it wasn't broken.

"What the hell happened?" Alaric stood a few feet away, on high alert, holding a long shotgun, his hair mussed and his eyes wide.

"Kai's… gone," Lucy choked out.

"More heretics?" Abby looked to Sheila, who was hovering nearby worriedly.

Sheila's mouth pinched. "That'd be my guess."

"The rest are still here." Stefan hurried into the room. "They're still passed out."

Elijah's face darkened. "Excuse me, I need to have a word with security to see just how these heretics entered my house…" With that, he walked off, all tense lines.

Abby hooked an arm around Lucy and helped her stand, taking the brunt of her weight against her side.

"They didn't want them," Lucy managed to say. "The others. He wanted to leave them."

Stefan's brow furrowed, and he looked to Caroline next to him.

"Are we safe here?" Caroline cast her gaze around the group. "Stupid question, I guess. I'm not sure we're safe anywhere."

"They have Kai, maybe that's all they wanted…" Abby frowned. "They could've taken us all out in our beds if that was their endgame, but they didn't."

"So, what?" Caroline crossed her arms over her chest nervously. "We just go back to sleep? Pretend it's all okay?"

"There's not much else we can do…" Sheila sighed. "We're all tired, and things are only going to get more hectic from here on out. We need our sleep."

Tired and wary, the group slowly took her advice and walked back to their rooms. This time, Lucy followed, crawling into bed next to Abby.

Sleep was elusive, however. She stared at the ceiling for what felt like hours until she eventually fell into a fitful sleep with any small noise or movement jarring her back awake. As soon as her eyes closed, she felt fingers on her neck and her skin crawled with the sensation. She had a feeling she wouldn't be forgetting the encounter anytime soon.

...

"You are a long way from home, Hunter."

Jeremy looked up, startled. He had been following a magic trail for a while; he just hadn't realize quite how close they were. The difficulty lied in how much magic they put out; it was a hell of a lot more than any other creature. Which meant gauging whether they were near or far was just about impossible. Considering he was standing in the middle of the woods, however, he thought maybe he wasn't the only one tracking someone.

"It's M'Kenna, right?" He stared at her searchingly. "We haven't met. I'm—"

"I know who you are." M'Kenna moved away from the cover of a tall, wide tree; the end of her dress rustled against the forest bed. "The Betrayer. You led the siphon to the house. Because of you, my mother, Malia, and Lydia were taken prisoner."

"And resurrected." His mouth flattened into a line.

"But that was not your intention."

One moment she was a good fifteen or twenty feet away from him, the next she stood close enough that he could feel her body heat. He took a step back in surprise. A twig snapped under his foot; in the moment, tense as it was, it sounded like a gunshot. "You…?"

"When I lived, I believed myself to be more witch than demon. But since my rebirth, I find there are some things that I inherited from my father than I hadn't once possessed. Speed… Strength…" She smiled, showing off pearly white fangs. "An occasional thirst for blood."

Jeremy's heart hammered in his chest and threated to climb up his throat.

"Worry not, Hunter. I have already fed." She waved a hand to the forest. "Nature has offered me a bounty."

It was then he noticed the spots of blood that touched the collar of her dress, and with it, the faint threads of white and grey fur. A rabbit?

"Now. I believe you were looking for someone." She raised an eyebrow. "My mother perhaps? I can smell my father on you, so he cannot be whom you seek."

"Your mom, yes."

"You seek counsel with her? Perhaps an audience to hear your heartfelt apology?" She side-stepped and then began to circle him, her hands tucked at her back. "When I was a young girl, I often tried to convince my siblings that we should return to our village. That the townspeople had likely realized their actions were rash and would beg that we forgive them. I was willing to do so. Despite everything. Despite the ache I felt every day for the loss of my parents. Despite the pain I had felt in the very moment my mother was struck, and relieved of any life. I had forgiveness in me. My siblings were not so keen. My brother, Dysin, he believed it was foolhardy to trust in the town. They had been willing to kill three young children, slaughter them in their beds, what could have changed their minds in only a few short years? My sister, Neci, she feared the wrath of the townspeople. She would not return, lest they strike us down as they had always wanted. Neci carried a grave burden. She believed she was the reason the town turned on us. Her fire and her power scared them. And so we did not return, and I never learned whether their hatred and fear turned to regret and sorrow." She came to a stop once more, standing still at his back. "Do you think me a naïve girl, Hunter?"

He swallowed tightly, and shook his head in one quick jerk. "No."

"Do you think the town deserved my forgiveness?"

He remembered Damon's desperation. His struggle. His overwhelming love for his family, and his fury over the actions of the town. He remembered Zarius and his self-righteous words as he brought Bonnie's shaking hand down to carve the heart from Damon's chest. He remembered the love Damon had felt, even in his last moments, for his wife and his children and the short life he had led on earth.

While Jeremy knew that his answer could result in his life or death, he answered sincerely. "No."

M'Kenna paused, completely quiet, and Jeremy felt sweat break out on the nape of his neck.

"My father has spared you." A statement, not a question, but Jeremy answered it anyway.

"Twice."

"Why?" She was in front of him in a blink, her mouth pursed severely.

Jeremy shrugged. "Pity, probably."

"That doesn't sound like my father." Her eyes narrowed. "What penance have you paid?"

"I… I saw everything. With Bonnie, with you, with the others. I saw his life, and his death."

"You saw it?"

He nodded, but it turned into a shake of his head a moment later. "I was there. I felt it. I—I was him."

She hummed thoughtfully. "When you look at me, what do you see?"

"I…" He stared at her. A beautiful mix of her mother and her father. Big, inquisitive eyes. Long, wavy hair. And he remembered the day she was born; how small she was in his hands. He remembered the sound of her laughter; how his heart squeezed in his chest each time. He remembered her climbing from the lake, soaked to the bone, reaching eagerly for his hand and chattering on about the fish and how friendly and smart and wonderful they were. She was just a little girl, full of life and hope and excitement. Most of all, however, he saw it from the perspective of a father. His heart swollen with love and pride, looking down at her, hearing her call him 'Papa.' Jeremy was barely an adult, and he was no father, but that didn't stop a part of his mind from feeling that way.

Seeming to get it, without him having to say a word, M'Kenna tipped her head to the side and let out a quiet hum. "You have saddled yourself with a great deal of confusion. Alliances will be tested. By birthright, you are the enemy of me and mine. And yet…" She reached out, and tapped a finger against his heart. "It is not our blood that makes our choices. Make yours wisely. I know what it is to live in regret. I would not wish it on anyone." With that, she turned on her heel, ready to leave.

"Wait!"

M'Kenna paused, and looked back at him curiously.

Words crowded his throat, threatening to trip over one another on their exit. "I… I'm not the only one. There are others. Other hunters. I think they're headed this way. I know they are."

Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "Are you warning me?"

"Your magic, it's different. It's potent enough to stand out. You, your mother, anyone like you, you're in danger." He gritted his teeth. "They aren't going to hesitate. They aren't like me. They'll shoot to kill, and they won't regret the body count."

This time, he turned to leave, making his way deeper into the woods. A part of him hoped she would listen to him, though he had no idea what she could possibly do with that information. It wasn't as if Bonnie would just pack her vendetta up and leave. But she needed to know that there were more enemies on the horizon, and they weren't like Kai, eager to watch the light show. No, they would want blood, and they would get it in whatever way they could.

...

Damon dreamt of her. Well, more accurately, he found her in his dreams.

They were home, in a bed he'd built himself, side by side. He watched her, laid out next to him, her hair spilling over her shoulders and across her pillow. Distantly, he could smell a fire burning in the house. Various herbs and spices drying on the window sill. Sweet grass, tied with a string, hung over their bed. He turned his head up to look at it, letting the familiarity soak into him.

He knew it was a dream. That it would never be like it was. His home was long gone now. A library in its place. The children were grown, having lives and families of their own. But here, in this moment, he could pretend.

Her hand slid across his chest, the warm skin of her palm soaking into him. "I thought you would still be angry."

"For your little vanishing act?" He turned to look at her, still just as beautiful as she'd always been. "I get why you're angry. I am, too."

She tapped her fingers against him. "There was a time when I was the hope and you the fury."

Damon turned onto his side. He covered her hand with his and then let his fingers sweep up her arm, circling the top of her shoulder. "Whatever choice you make, I'll stand by you 'til the bitter end. I can take or leave this world. I don't give a rat's ass what happens to most of these people. What I care about is you. I want you to be sure, when this is all over, that what you did was the right thing." He slid his hand up to her cheek, his thumb tracing along the curve. "Zarius was rage and anger and fear. And every second of every day that I've known you, you've been the opposite of that."

"That was before. Before our children were ripped from our sides. Before we were gutted and left to die in the woods. Before Neci and Dysin were imprisoned simply for being." Her eyes grew bright with tears. "I cannot have faith when all it has done is hurt me. I cannot forgive when treason still lives. I cannot wash my hands of another person's sins. I cannot and I will not."

Damon licked his lips and nodded slowly.

Bonnie reached up and clutched at his wrist, her fingers digging into his skin. "Can you love me… when hatred fills my bones?" Her voice had softened, unsure and quiet. As if there were some universe in which he could ever turn his back on her.

He thumbed away a stray tear that fell.

"I was different before. I wanted so desperately to believe that so long as we gave back to the world, it would give to us. Was I wrong? To believe so wholly?"

"No. No, you weren't wrong. You were… You are the best person I have ever known. You're someone to aspire to. Bonnie… Hey…"

She looked up at him, her mouth trembling.

"Listen to me… I admire you. I believe in you. And I love you. Always have, always will, and nothing will change that." He pulled her close to him then, until her head was cradled on his chest and her body was pressed to his, their legs tangled together. Fingers stroking through her hair, he rubbed her shoulder soothingly. "Tell me what to do. You want me to start offing people? I will. You want me to dismantle heaven? I'll do that, too. Just say the word."

Bonnie was quiet for a long moment. But eventually, she rubbed her cheek against him, and said, "Hold me. Please."

Damon wrapped his arms around her tighter and kissed the top of her head. "Always."

They laid there, wrapped together, in a home they knew was forever lost to them, awash in grief and worry, and comforted by the one thing death could never strip from them. Love.

"When I go to war, will you stand with me?"

"I'll always stand with you." He meant it, he did. However, Damon couldn't help but wonder if standing for her meant something very different.

...

Come morning, Elijah found himself sitting at a long table dressed in decadent foot he'd asked his cook to put out for breakfast. Much of the house was still asleep, but Jamie Bennett sat across from him, nearly shoveling a stack of steaming waffles into his mouth. Stirring his tea, he shared with the young man, "My patrolmen were killed."

"Heretics did it?" Jamie asked through a mouthful, licking up a dribble of syrup from his lip. At Elijah's frank stare, he rolled his eyes. "You know how long it's been since I ate? Half the time, the only thing we got to eat is canned foods. Grams cooks up stew like nobody's business, but I haven't had anything else in months. You don't get waffles when you're on the run."

Elijah hummed. "I would assume the heretics did it, but I can't fathom why. Lucy said they were hidden from sight; a concealment spell of some kind. They willingly chose not to harm us, only deciding to kill Lucy because she was an imminent threat. So, why kill the guards if they could get past them? And why leave us alive?"

Sitting back in his seat, Jamie finished off a tall glass of orange juice, wiped his mouth, and refilled his glass with the jug in reach. "If I know anything about Kai, it's that everything he does is for some bigger purpose."

Elijah raised a curious eyebrow. "In what way?"

"He raised Bonnie up because he wanted to see what she could do. He kept Malia and Lydia alive when he didn't have to. Lydia I get, she was a big part in waking Bonnie up. But Malia? The only reason I see him sparing her is because she's got ties to Damon. So, he spares people to avoid getting into it right away. You ask me, he wants us all there to see it happen."

"See what happen, exactly?"

"The grand finale." Jamie skewered a sausage with his fork. "He wants to watch the world burn. And he's psychotic, so he wants to watch us all fall apart, too. We're just pieces on a game board for him. As far as Kai's concerned, our pain, our fear, everything we do, it's all just amusing to him. But he's not an idiot. Damon can destroy him with a snap of his fingers. So, he doesn't hurt Malia or Lydia. He brings Bonnie back, and when it doesn't go totally according to plan, he re-writes the plan. Either way, he wants an audience for when he kicks off the apocalypse. And we're it."

Elijah frowned grimly. While not what he was hoping to hear this morning, it did enlighten him as to the motivations of one Kai Parker. And he thought he had just the obstacle to trip Kai up.

Waving to a servant as he brought in a platter of scrambled eggs, Elijah said, "Find Klaus. Tell him I need to speak to him."

...

Come morning, Damon was feeling refreshed. While things could have gone better with Bonnie, he couldn't deny that just holding her had made him feel a hell of a lot better. Deep down, she was still in there, she was just overwhelmed with anger and grief. He needed a way to break through that. And he was really hoping his sister, who, admittedly, he hadn't seen in a few milleniums, was just the person for the job.

Damon showered and changed and was ready to take on the world, or some version of it. He made his way into the parlor, whistling a chipper tune and rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

"So? How are we gonna do this?" Malia was sitting on the couch, legs crossed under her, overflowing bowl of cereal cradled in her lap. She shoved a large spoonful into her mouth and spoke through it. "No church this time, right?"

"No, no church."

"Then what?"

Damon glanced at her, and then cleared his throat. Arms at his sides, he raised his hands up, fingers pointed outward. In a very deep voice, that seemed to echo through the room, he said, "Briathos."

Nothing happened.

A beat passed and he looked up at the ceiling, an eyebrow arched. "Seriously?"

Malia frowned. "She just answers to her name? That's kind of underwhelming…"

Damon rolled his eyes. "You have to say it a certain way."

Her brow furrowed. "You mean like you're summoning her…?"

"Something like that." He sighed and shifted around restlessly. "Maybe I didn't say it right… Or maybe she goes by a different name now. They do that sometimes, just to screw with people. The really popular ones that are tired of getting summoned for every little thing. Honestly, angels are so pretentious. They—"

A crackle of energy rippled through the room. "Please, go on. I can't wait to hear how this ends…"

Damon whirled around to find Bri standing behind him, her arms crossed. He grinned a little goofily and clapped his hands together. "I knew you'd come."

She scoffed. "Yes, I could tell."

With a laugh, he walked toward her.

Despite her annoyed look, it crumbled the closer he got, until he was in reach, and she let him pull her in for a hug. He picked her right up off her feet and swung her around.

Squeezing him tight, she dropped her chin to his shoulder. "You look older, Little Brother."

"Haven't you heard?" He dropped her down to her feet, but didn't let her go. "I fathered a whole species. It's tiring work playing daddy..."

Bri snorted. "It's been a long time."

"Yeah, well, that happens when you get killed."

Leaning back, she met his eyes, her mouth pressed flat in a severe line. "I heard. Your mother informed me… I kept watch over the children after your passing. I visited sometimes, even if they didn't know it. But we have rules, and there were only so many times they would look the other way."

"What about Zarius?" His brow furrowed as he stared at her. "You let him have them?"

"Let?" Her eyes brightened, the blue of her irises seeming to spark with tiny bolts of electricity. "I fought for them. I nearly had my wings taken from me, I was so vocal against their decision. But they wouldn't be swayed. You have to understand, they were so terrified of anyone with magic. It colored everything they did."

"What about now? Why haven't they reversed it?"

She scoffed and stepped back from him, beginning to pace the room, vibrating with agitation. "They hate to admit their wrongs. It's childish and unbecoming, but they've let their pride get the better of them. It's never spoken of, not since they created a better world for the magical to pass into. They feel they've rectified their mistake and will speak no more of it. To bring it up is an offense."

"I don't care who it offends, Bri. I want my children back." Black scales flared across his face and hid themselves just as quick.

"What you're asking of me…" She turned to face him, guilt and sorrow lining her face. "I'll lose my wings."

"Better your wings than your conscience. This is Neci and Dysin. You know them. They're as much your family as they are mine."

She closed her eyes and turned away. "If I lose my wings, I fall. Your mother doesn't exactly like me, Damon. I'll serve eternity in the hell pits, doing the worst jobs you can imagine. I'm not a demon. I— I don't have the stomach for that kind of punishment."

"Please, angels are just as vengeful as the rest of us, they just dress it up as divine retribution." He stalked toward her. "I'm telling you this because you're my sister… If they don't give me my kids back, I'll storm heaven myself, with or without Bonnie. I'll tear it apart and I'll take every angel I see with me. So, either they make this right and give me my kids, or there will be no heaven or earth. Only hell."

Bri lifted her chin and turned to look at him, her eyes wide. "That's blasphemous… Even just saying it can strip you of everything you are."

"I don't answer to Him. I answer to myself and my family. As far as I'm concerned, that doesn't include anybody standing in my way."

Blinking back a sheen of tears, she nodded. "I will see what I can do."

He reached for her, a hand wrapping around her wrist. "You know it isn't right… You know it."

Bri stared down at his hand, and then raised a smile in his direction. "Goodbye Little Brother." With that, she blinked out of sight, with nothing but a single feather floating to the floor to show she'd ever been there.

Malia's spoon clinked against her bowl. "So… On a scale of one to ten, how badly did that go?"

Damon sighed.

...

Bonnie walked through the woods with purpose. Behind her, nature grew brighter, impossibly green and lush with life. The sun filtered through criss-crossing tree limbs to dapple the forest floor, spilling over moss covered tree trunks and berry-heavy bushes.

She came upon a large opening, where body after body lay in dewy grass, nude for all the world to see. Various shades of brown skin as far as her eyes could reach. The wolves had returned to their human states, for now at least.

One in particular, woke at her arrival. He stood, tall with wide shoulders and a handsome face. He crossed the ground to meet her and fell to one knee, bowing his head. She dropped a hand atop black curls, a sign of recognition, and then let her hand fall back to her side. "What name were you given, wolf?"

He lifted his head to meet her eyes, green eyes warm and kind. "Mama named me Ibrahim, but I'd appreciate it if you called me Bram."

"Bram then." She nodded. "You lead this pack?"

"Only recently. LeRoy was our leader, but we lost him a few weeks back." He clenched his teeth, a muscle ticking in his cheek, and blew a heavy sigh out through his nose. "Things have been… tense since we arrived in town."

"I wish him peace." She stared at him searchingly. "You understand that to pledge your fealty to me and mine means you could lose more of your people…?"

"Our ways are set. We honor Mother Nature, and you epitomize that. Where you go, we follow. It was you and yours that gave my kind life. We owe you."

"Your life is your own, Bram. I hold no ill will to any who decides not to follow my path. Chances of survival are small and bleak."

He nodded. "I won't require that my pack follows you. It's up to them. But I can tell you now, they'll stay. Loyalty here is absolute."

Slowly, the other wolves began to rouse, shaking their heads to rid their hair of grass and twigs. Man and woman stood, bare to the world and Bonnie's eyes, strong, able, and ready to fight for her cause.

Bram raised a fist and knocked it hard against his chest. "My life and my spirit, my hands and my heart, by teeth and claw, I stand by you."

Behind him, the others followed suit, a chorus of voices.

And Bonnie gazed at each of them, a swell of emotion at her breast. An army of wolves stood at the ready, and the shadow of future retribution was warm on her tongue.

tbc

note: sorry this took so long! i had a serious case of writer's block, where i knew what i wanted to write, i just couldn't get myself to sit down and actually write it. in any case, i've pushed through it, and i hope you enjoyed this chapter! there's a lot of little pieces that are all moving towards an ultimate goal. thank you all for reading and sticking with it. unfortunately, due to computer issues, i'll only be able to write/update on weekends for the time being. i'm trying to get as much written as i can, so i'm going to try and keep updates weekly. thank you to everyone who left a donation on my ko-fi. it's such a huge help! any of you who can leave a few dollars, it would be so, so appreciated!

thank you all so much for reading. if you can, please try to leave a review!

- Lee | Fina