CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

"There are too many people in my house."

Nyx smirks as her brown eyes look over at Damon. "That's what you get for telling me that your home is my home." She tells him. "Maybe you shouldn't have let Elena burn our house down."

"Let?" He questions. "You weren't there, you were in New Orleans. There was no warning, she just flipped the switch and lit the match. Nobody let her do anything."

"Still, you said we could stay here." She says, and he walks over to the twins.

"Yeah, well, these two are cute enough to earn your continued housing."

"I'm your best friend, and I'm dating your brother. I'd like to see you try and kick me out." She smiles when he narrows his eyes at her. "Hey!" She smacks his hand when he tries to take a cupcake.

"This is still my house." He grabs two and then goes to share with the twins.

"Yeah, 'cause that's what those two need." Dean says he walks into the kitchen. "Sugar for breakfast."

"Damon's declared himself the fun uncle, so he's not listening to me." Nyx tells him, and he nods.

"Uh-huh. Anyway, Sam and Caroline are taking off." He says as he walks past her to get himself a cup of coffee. "Something about digging up some teddy bear in the woods."

"Miss Cuddles?"

"I thought that was the one that Bonnie sent over from 1990." He says, and she nods.

"Yeah, but the one from our universe is currently buried in the woods." She tells him, and the two men both look at her. "Nine-year-old Caroline got mad at Bonnie and stole Miss Cuddles. Then she was paranoid that her mom would find her at the house, so she buried her."

"And you know this, how?" Damon asks.

"I was her accomplice." She smiles.

"Of course you were." Dean chuckles.

"Caroline's gonna kill him if she finds out that he's eating those before the party." Stefan says as he looks at his brother as he walks into the room​.

"Yep." Nyx nods.

"I'm not eating them, the twins are. And she would never harm a hair on their heads." He argues, and Nyx shakes her at the older Salvatore.

"Hello?" They hear a familiar voice as the front door opens.

"Damon." Nyx looks at him, and he disappears with the twins.

The brunette hops off the counter and pushes Stefan toward Dean as Kai walks into the room and looks at her. "I forgot how massive this house was. Yum, cupcakes." He smiles, and she narrows her eyes at him. "Sorry, am I interrupting something?"

"What the hell are you doing here? And why should I not kill you?" She questions.

"Funniest thing. I need your help."

"You threatened to kill my kids. Go to hell." Nyx says and then turns to grab Dean so that he can't get past her.

"This is him?" He questions.

"Ooh, is this their Dad?" Kai asks and smirks as he leans forward and looks between him and Stefan. "You have a thing for green eyes, don't you, Nyx? Is that why Damon never stood a chance? Is that why I don't?"

"No, Jess and I don't like you because you're friggin' crazy, and you slaughtered your entire family." She says. "Why are you here, Kai?"

He holds up a small white envelope. "I need you to give this letter to Jo." He says as walks over to sit on the table, and she gives him a puzzled look as she eases up on holding Dean back. He's not fighting her anymore, he's confused too.

"And why the hell would I do that?" She questions.

"I haven't been able to find her using a locator spell." He says as he picks up one of the unfinished cupcakes from the table. "And, you know, good on her, 'cause under normal circumstances, I'd be super jazzed to gouge out her belly button."

"Yeah, um... And why should I help you? Did you already forget the part where you threatened to kill my children?"

"Yeah, see, about that — my bad." He shakes his head. "I promise, I won't touch them. I'll never even look at the kids."

"Nyx?" Dean looks down at her, and she shakes her head as she shrugs.

"Well, in case you haven't figured out by now... I'm a sociopath." Kai says, and she fakes surprise as she turns back to him. "I know, shocker. I like being a sociopath, you know. I'm not burdened by things like guilt or love. So, then, this merge happened with my brother, Luke, and I won. Which is great, because I absorbed his ability to do magic, but now I can't stop thinking about how Luke died. How Liv's life is ruined. For some horrible reason, I can't shake...how badly I feel about it."

"You feel bad?" Stefan questions.

"Yeah. So, when I absorbed Luke's magic, I must've gotten some of his qualities or something, like...empathy." He tells them, and Nyx narrows her dark eyes at him. "So, I Googled how to process emotional pain, and they said if you write everything down in a letter and burn it, you'll be healed. So, I started writing...and this water literally started pooling in my eyes. Has that ever happened to you? Like, water just oozing out of my eyeballs like I'm some alien creature excreting fluid."

"I don't know what's weirder — the fact that you cried or the fact that I believe you." Nyx says.

"Yes." He nods. "And after that was done, I burned the letter. The feelings — oop — still there. So, I feel really strongly that Jo needs to know how sorry I am...for destroying our family. But, let's face it, guys, alright? I mean, Nyx, you of all people should be willing to look past the questionable things I've done to see that there's​ good somewhere in me. You did it with Stefan and Damon, and I bet that one's past is no walk in the park either."

"See? Good people can do bad things, and be forgiven. But... They also do plenty of good." She says, and the men all look at her.

"What are you doing?" Dean questions.

"You want me to pass along the letter, I'm gonna need something in exchange." Nyx tells him.

"Like what?" Kai asks.

"Damon, bring me the ascendant." She says and then goes into the room with the pool table, the three of them all follow after her.

Damon walks into the room with it not long after, and Kai looks at him. Damon's been listening the whole time, and Nyx knew it. No way in hell was he going to just leave her with the protection of only two humans against the sociopath that is Kai Parker.

"Sad attempt at iron welding." Kai mutters as he looks over the ascendant.

"Elena tried to fix it." She says. "But you threw it against a tree and then set it on fire, so..."

Part of it falls off, and he looks at Nyx. "I can't bring Bonnie and Jenna back with this." He tells her.

"I thought you were the all-powerful leader of the Gemini coven now."

"I destroyed this. So that it couldn't be used again." He says, and she narrows her eyes at him.

"Well, can we use this hunk of junk to send a message, at least?" Damon asks, and Kai holds up the busted ascendant. "It is Bonnie's birthday."

"It is?" He asks.

"Yeah. It's really sad. I mean, little Bon-Bon and Jenna... They'll be getting all dressed up for a party no one's gonna show up to. I wonder if they even know that it is her birthday. Or do all the days just blend into one vast sea of misery? I wonder." He says as he glances over at Nyx, and she smirks.

Kai looks back at the ascendant in his hands. "One of the crown wheels survived, that's a positive. Plus, I am...mega powerful." He says, and Damon nods as the brunette resists the urge to roll her eyes. "What do you want to say?"

"Well, Bonnie needs magic to get out, we just need to tell them where to find some."

Lexi and Vicki take the twins and get them the hell away from the Boarding House. Jess is somewhere with Tyler, and Elena's with Jeremy in the garage. And Stefan and Dean both refuse to leave Nyx, despite the fact that she's perfectly safe with Damon there.

Nyx looks over at Damon. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" She asks, and he nods.

"I believe so." He looks at her. "Our little trip that we never got around to because you were too busy being—"

"Watch it." She warns, and he smirks.

"You two have an idea?" Dean asks.

"Let me give you a hint." Damon looks between him and his brother. "Scorned lover."

"Katherine?" Stefan asks.

"Older." Nyx tells him.

"Silas."

"Hotter." Damon says.

"Hey!" His brother looks at him.

"Aw." Nyx chuckles. "I like your face. But I was not sad to see your doppelganger get swept into oblivion. Gotta love Bonnie. I miss her."

"That chick that Silas screwed over." Dean says, not wanting to listen to Nyx say anything else about liking Stefan's face.

"Qetsiyah." Stefan says, and Nyx nods.

"Her blood is in Silas' headstone. It's filled with magic." Nycole says.

"Yup." Damon nods. "So, in Bonnie-Jenna-land, that means on an island off Nova Scotia, there's a big magical battery waiting to be tapped. We just need to remind Bonnie of that."

"This was your trip that you two were gonna go on?" Stefan asks.

"Uh... Change of scenery—"

"Why do you lie?" Nyx looks at him.

"'Cause there's no point in telling the truth, we can't do it." Damon looks at her.

"You're an infuriating person." She narrows her eyes at him and suddenly he's standing directly in front her.

"You love me. You've already said it, multiple times. You can't take it back now." He says, and she puts her hand on his face and pushes him away from her.

"Is this awkward for you?" Kai asks as he looks up at Nyx from the ascendant that he's tinkering with. "Your boyfriend, your baby-daddy, and the guy you had a hot and heavy make-out session in the kitchen with all protecting you from the guy who was flirting with you in the prison world?"

"Is it just me, or does he get creepier and creepier every time he opens his mouth?"

"Dude, how long were you watching us before you tried to kill us?" Nyx questions.

"About four months." Kai says. "And for the record, if I wanted to kill you, you both would've been dead."

"Can I shoot him?"

"Do you want him to help us save Bonnie and Jenna?" Damon asks.

"Yes."

"Then no."

"Damn it."

"What the hell is he doing here?" Jeremy questions as he and Elena walk into the room.

Kai looks at them and smiles. "Hi."

"Hey there, Jer-Bear." Nyx walks over to him with a smile. "Can we have a mature, adult, non-violent conversation, please?"

"He kidnapped you and Elena, and got her killed." Jeremy says, and she nods.

"Yeah, I was there. But we're both alive, and she's human — so, silver lining." She says. "Oh, and I'm the oldest, so I automatically win. Stand over there and don't argue with me."

"You're cute when you get all authoritative and parental." Damon says with a smile.

"Stefan, put a muzzle on your brother." Nyx says and then starts explaining everything that they're doing.

"People don't just change like that." Jeremy says as he looks back at Kai.

"People don't usually merge with their siblings either." Damon reasons.

"Uh, for the record, I would have been fine with any of Luke's qualities. You know, the hair, the whole gay thing. You know, maybe not the height, actually." Kai says, and Nyx shakes her head.

"You seriously buy this?" Jeremy questions.

"Yes, Jeremy." Nyx nods. "Because after all the crap that we've been dealing with, I need a win. So, if we can tell Bonnie how to get her and Jenna out—"

"We should trust the guy that changed personalities overnight?" He cuts his sister off.

Kai stands up straight. "Think of it like Nyx in reverse." He says, and she looks at him with narrowed eyes. "You know, she was human, pure, a cute little cheerleader. Now, she's some supernatural mystery creature who burns demons with her bare hands and dates guys like these three." He motions around the room.

Nyx smiles as she walks over to him, but she's obviously annoyed. "You wanna know what else I did to that demon?" She asks, and he smiles as he looks down at her.

"You have really pretty eyes. You know, with the light shining on them it makes them a brighter shade. Kinda reminds me of honey." He leans down, but she doesn't flinch away from him. He's still looking at her eyes, and she narrows them. "I like you."

"I'd be flattered if I didn't despise you." She says and then walks past him, bumping his arm with her shoulder.

Kai chuckles as he looks at her. "Hey, eyes on the ascendant." Damon tells him. "Fix it so we can save Bonnie and Jenna."