Alaric turned, ready to attack when the smoldering door to the root cellar flew open, breaking through the braces he had set up. He relaxed when he saw it was Hope hurrying down the steps. 
“The dragon’s gone for the moment,” she said. She turned back to the door. “Adiuuatur!” The smoking wood stopped sizzling. “It’s a fireproofing spell, but it won’t hold forever.”
“Where are Kaleb and MG? It’s bad enough Lizzie and Landon -”
Hope cut him off. “They’re vamp-speeding through the woods to make sure no one else is in danger or in need of compelling.”
“Oh.” Alaric was surprised. “That’s … that’s smart, actually.”
“Yeah, it is, so thanks for the vote of confidence.” Hope crossed her arms. “Besides, it’s not like they could help spell the doors. Now, how do you plan to kill it?”
“Uh, Dorian is working on it, so for right now, we’re just sitting tight until he -”
“So I can try my plan then?” Hope interrupted again.
Alaric narrowed his eyes. “Depends on what it is.”
“You don’t want to know. But I don’t think you have any other choice.”
The door opened again and this time, they both turned, getting ready to fight.
“Hold your fire!” Kaleb said, eyeing Hope’s outstretched hand, ready to cast. “We’re just dropping off Landon before we finish our rounds.”
“What the hell are you doing here?” Hope asked as Kaleb gave Landon a push into the root cellar and closed the door behind him. “I thought you left.”
“I was - I was taking a walk to clear my head, and then MG and Kaleb vamped me here.” Landon blinked quickly, trying to recall the pieces in between. “But I don’t remember how I got out there.”
Alaric stepped forward. “What do you mean you don’t remember?”
“I mean I’ve been losing time. I was in the bathroom and I started to get these - these flashes of me on a bus with this knife, but I don’t know where the knife came from or what I did with it. I don’t remember it happening!”
Hope’s face was deadly calm as she stared at him. “You stole the knife from the library.”
“No!” Landon’s eyes widened and he shook his head. “I mean, I don’t know - or I don’t remember stealing it!”
Hope marched forward and stuck out a hand. “Give it to me!”
“Hope, he -”
“You still have it, don’t you?” She raised her eyebrows in a challenge.
Landon slowly reached into his jacket. “I didn’t know -”
“Like hell you didn’t know!” Hope snatched the knife from him, glaring at him.
“Hope,” Alaric said warningly. 
Landon stared back at her, refusing to look away. “I’m sorry.”
Alaric stepped between them. “Let’s just take care of the dragon problem first. We can deal with the knife after.”
Hope shrugged too casually. “The dragon problem is taken care of.” She looked between them proudly. “I’m gonna kill it.”