CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Damon walks into the kitchen where the girls are all sitting at the table. "Shame eating?" He asks when he sees Bonnie with her food.

"Thinking about that pregnant lady." She tells him. "She had a thing for pancakes."

"That's what you remember?"

"You remember it, don't you?" She asks as Nyx gets up and walks over to where he's pouring himself a drink. "You make pancakes every day."

"Because I'm bored." He says as he hands Nyx a glass with a little of the bourbon and then turns to face Bonnie.

"No. Because you're punishing yourself. You called this place your hell, that means you feel remorse." She says. "That makes you different than Kai — means there's hope for you."

"Look, the five of us — we can still get out of here, Bonnie." He says as he takes a few steps forward, away from where Nyx is leaning against the counter. "We can steal that ascendant contraption. Find out what Kai knows. We'll ditch him. He doesn't have any powers anyway."

"Actually, it's not that simple." Kai says as he walks into the room.

"You gotta stop doing that. It's creepy." He says as Nyx stands up straight.

"Here's the thing: I have a peculiar effect on magic." He continues. "I can't generate it myself..." He starts toward Bonnie, and the three girls immediately stand from the table as the two vampires watch him closely. "But I can consume it from others — temporarily. My family called me an abomination. That hurt my feelings." He grabs Bonnie's arm, and she starts screaming out in pain.

"Kai, stop it!" Nyx yells as she moves closer to where Damon's standing — he's closer to the girls than she previously was.

Jess and Jenna fly across the room, hitting the wall. The impact knocks them out, and the two vampires are clutching their heads as a fire roars up next to them. Bonnie's still in pain as he siphons magic out of her.

"Okay. We get it." Damon groans.

Kai lets go of Bonnie. "You can see why my coven and I didn't get along."

"I smell an ultimatum."

"If I consume all of Bonnie's magic, I'm just gonna end up killing her. But if we work together...we can all go home as friends." He says. "Or I can devour her magic, kill you all, and go home alone. What's it gonna be?"

"Fine." Bonnie reluctantly agrees. "I'll do the spell." She says, and he smiles.

Kai starts to walk out, but then he stops and looks at Nyx. "And if you need a little added incentive..." He walks over to her. "You make sure I get out, or I'll get out on my own, and my first stop...will be to see your cute little twins." He rests his hand on the side of her face, and she groans as he siphons magic from her vampirism. "I'll be sure to tell them that Mommy said goodbye." He chuckles and then walks out of the kitchen.

Nyx gasps as she wakes up, and Stefan walks over to the bed she's on. "No nightmares." He says as he lays down next to her.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'll get right on learning how to control my dreams." She says as she rolls over to face him.

"What was it about?"

"The anti-crist."

"Kai." He sighs as he brushes her hair away from her face.

"He's out, Stefan." She sighs. "And I'm scared. You didn't see him over there. You didn't read that article, or hear him talk about what he did. There was no remorse, it was like he didn't even see that what he did was wrong. He's a...a sociopath."

"Stop thinking about him." He then props himself up on his elbow and looks down at her. "Let's go to the tree decorating ceremony in town."

"No." She shakes her head. "Not without the twins. And not without Elena. And Lexi. Hell, not without Damon. Even if he is acting like a monumental jackass at the moment."

"So, what do you want to do tonight?"

"Stay in bed." She smiles as she rests her hand on the side of his face and pulls him down to her.

He kisses her and then leans his forehead against hers. "Jo says you're supposed to rest." He reminds her, and she chuckles.

"So just lay with me." She tells him. "Or answer your phone, 'cause the buzzing is getting annoying."

He sighs as he rolls over and picks it up off of the nightstand. "You're interrupting my lazy day with—" He stops as he sits up. "Lexi, slow down. What's going on?" He asks.

"Stefan?" Nyx sits up and crawls across the bed toward him.

"Yeah, we'll be there. Just give us a minute to get changed." He says as he then hangs up the phone. He sighs as he looks at Nyx.

"What? What is it? What's going on?"

"The sheriff showed up at Whitmore to surprise Caroline. So, they and Lexi were decorating her dorm with Christmas lights, and..." He looks down.

"Stef?" She moves so she's sitting directly beside him, her body facing him, and she puts her hand on his arm. "What is it?"

"Liz fainted, so they took her to the hospital, and Lexi overheard the doctors talking." He tells her. "There's a radiologist there, and she said that Liz has glioplastoma. So, she compelled her for more information."

"No." She shakes her head. "No, no, she can't... What?"

"Caroline and I took her to the hospital a couple of weeks ago, after Tripp's guys grabbed her." He continues. "Doctors ran some tests and apparently, they found something suspicious."

"No, but... I mean, Caroline would've said something. She would've told us."

"Lexi just told her, Nyx. She didn't know. Elena's there now, but she's gonna be leaving soon to tell Damon." He says, and she sighs.

"How bad is it?"

"The doctor told Lexi that an MRI showed a legion on her brain stem. They think it metastasized to her spine."

"I understood, like, half of that." She shakes her head. "Can they operate?"

"Not if the tumor's already spread." He tells her, and she nods, digesting the information.

"So, there's nothing that they can do. Which means she's gonna..." She wipes a tear from her cheek, and he rests his hand on her leg.

Nyx leans against him, and he sighs as he rests his head on hers. He turns his head toward her and kisses the top of her head.

"We should go." She takes a deep breath as she presses her lips to his shoulder and then stands up. They both quickly get ready and then head over to the hospital.

"Caroline!" Nyx runs over, and the blonde hugs her as soon as she's close enough.

"I can't lose my mom, Nyx. I can't." Caroline starts sobbing as she buries her face in her friend's shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, Care." She says as she smooths out the back of her hair.

Nyx looks at Lexi, who looks like she's having a hard time with the news too. She's gotten pretty close to Caroline in the months that she's been back. Especially since she came back to live in Virginia three months ago.

What comes next won't be easy on anyone.

—

Nyx and Stefan walk back into her hotel room, and she immediately freezes when she sees a familiar face standing by the table. Stefan closes the door and looks up when she backs into him.

"Nyx?" He rests his hand on her side. "What is it?"

"It's probably me." Kai says, and Stefan's​ head snaps in his direction. He smiles.

Stefan pushes Nyx behind him, and she grabs his arm. "What are you doing here, Kai?" She asks, and Stefan's jaw tightens.

"I came to see an old friend. I see you found yourself a new boyfriend." He says as he starts walking toward them.

Stefan takes a step forward, but then he flies across the room. "Stefan!" Nyx yells, and when he lands on the floor, he's unconscious. She grits her teeth as she looks back at Kai. "I see you have magic."

Kai chuckles as he then walks toward her. "It makes life so much easier." He says, and she presses herself against the door as he gets closer to her. "You're different than the last time I saw you. You're human now."

"What do you want?" Her voice wavers.

"I could tell you..." He smirks as he uses the tips of his fingers to brush her hair away from her face. "But it'd be so much more fun to show you." He says, and she clenches her teeth as she looks away from him.