What's At Stake, Part Three

The room service waiter – a trim, vaguely Asian, middle-aged man this time – laid the meal out next to the two laptops on the table with a well-practiced efficiency, and slid back out of the room as quietly and unobtrusively as he had entered. Jonas raised a questioning eyebrow at the single place setting. "You're not eating?"


"I'll... dine later. Please, go ahead."

Pouring himself a scotch, Elijah sat at his computer and busied himself with updates to his database to give the warlock a chance to eat. The several hours of research he'd done on Mystic Falls had provided a wealth of new information to collate. Names, photos, recent events and, in some cases, familial lineages had all been available online. How easy it all was. A few hours to discover what would have taken weeks, even months to glean only a few decades ago. He never failed to marvel at how readily information was available to anyone who cared to look. Ironic that, in this day and age when knowledge and learning were but a few clicks away, fewer and fewer people undertook intellectual pursuits.

Had he been free to choose his own path, all of those centuries ago, he would have dedicated his life to scholarship and learning. A monastic setting maybe, or perhaps he would have made his way south and east to Byzantium, where scholarship and invention thrived even as Europe was plunged into the Dark Ages. But his father, and circumstance, had dictated otherwise. In any case, he had all the time now to learn whatever he wished. All the time.

Having made quick work of his meal, Jonas left the tray by the door and poured a scotch for himself. "Okay. Let's hear it."

Elijah closed the document and slid the laptop over to focus on the warlock. "What would you say if I were to tell you that we could control not only when Klaus will attempt to break the curse, but also lure him to a place of our choosing to do so?"

Jonas rocked back, running a hand down over his face and puffing out a breath as he took that in. "I... He's not... You... How?"

"By having something he wants and needs."

The warlock's brows drew together as he considered the possibilities. "You found the moonstone?"

"I know its whereabouts. It is apparently squirreled away in a tomb underneath the wreckage of a church in Mystic Falls." Elijah sipped his drink and waited for Jonas to make the connection.

"Katherine Pierce. That's where she was burned in 1864. She was the last to have it?"

"Apparently she still does. Katherine is also in the tomb. Trapped there by a witch's spell."

"So... you want to use Katherine and the moonstone to lure Klaus here." Jonas got up and stalked to the windows, fingers laced atop his head. "Won't he just take them and go? Having the moonstone in his hand is no guarantee of anything, not without a doppelganger. He'll still need his witches to figure out the spell-work." Pacing between the windows and door, Jonas shook his head. "It's too risky. He'll have the stone and still have them."

"Oh. Did I fail to mention that we also have a doppelganger?" Elijah sat back and crossed his legs with a self-satisfied smile.

Jonas stopped short and stared at him, making a few abortive attempts at speech before he managed, "A Petrova doppelganger? You're certain? I thought the Petrova line had ended."

"As did I. Evidently we were both in error." Pulling his laptop in front of him, he gestured toward the chair. "Please, sit."

As Jonas took his seat, Elijah pulled up the local news photos from a 'Miss Mystic Falls' pageant. He pointed to one of the photos and enlarged it. "This girl, here. Elena Gilbert." She looked very glamorous and grown-up in the photo, far different from the frightened and bloodied girl he'd seen the day before. More like Katerina.

"You're sure this isn't Katherine Pierce, playing at being human?"

"I saw her yesterday. She's human. I'm certain."

"Yesterday? Where is she now?" Jonas glanced around, though it was obvious that the girl wasn't there.

"Back at her home in Mystic Falls, I presume."

The warlock gaped at him. "You didn't secure her?! She could be halfway to anywhere by now!"

"There were... complications."

Jonas resumed his pacing. "You should have taken her. If you really want to draw Klaus out, we need her in hand, and now she's forewarned that someone is coming after her. That wasn't smart."

When Jonas completed his circuit to the window and turned back toward the door, Elijah was mere inches from him. Jonas stopped short to keep from running into the vampire. "Are you questioning me?" he asked, his voice low and deceptively soft.

He was pleased to see the warlock stumble back a step, the muscles in his throat working.

"No, no. It's just... we couldn't possibly have a better opportunity." He lifted his hands in apology. "Sorry. I... just want my daughter back. That's all."

Elijah let it go at that. Returning to the table, he tapped some keys and brought up a photo of Mystic Falls High School. "Elena is a student at this school. In looking through some of the photos of events, I noted this girl, the one next to the float. Her name is Bonnie Bennett. Does that name bear any meaning to you?"

Jonas studied the photo, then pulled his laptop over and opened a spreadsheet. "There were a line of Bennett witches in the group that migrated south from Salem. It's possible she's a descendant."

"I'd like for you and Luka to relocate to Mystic Falls. He's the same age as these girls. He can fit in, get close to them, perhaps learn if Ms. Bennett possesses the Gift."

The warlock looked dubious, and a little torn. "I'm not sure I want Luka involved in this."

"The boy need not do anything other than make friends at his new school. Surely there's no harm in that?" Jonas's eyebrows spoke volumes regarding what he thought about that. "We need someone close to the girls, someone whose presence won't arouse suspicions."

"I take it she doesn't know who or what you are? Because if she has any idea I can't imagine she's just hanging at home and going to school."

"She has no reason to be worried. She thinks me dead."

"Um... why does she think you're dead?"

"Because when last she saw me, I was."

Jonas leaned back and folded his arms in front of him. "What exactly happened yesterday?"

"I was called to meet with a couple of vampires on another matter. They wished to trade the girl for their release from an old debt. I did have thoughts of leaving with her yesterday, but as I said, there were complications." Elijah pulled up another photo, this one from an old newspaper from the '50's. Turning the screen toward Jonas, he pointed out a grainy figure in the background of the shot. "Stefan Salvatore. One of two brothers turned by Katerina in 1864."

"I don't follow."

"These Salvatore brothers rode to the girl's rescue before I could leave with her yesterday. The other brother killed me." He shook his head at Jonas's raised eyebrow. "He got lucky. The point is, they have no reason to expect they'll see me again. We still have the element of surprise."

Jonas sat and mulled it over for a few minutes. Leaving him to his thoughts, Elijah crossed to the desk and called Philip. "Results?" he said simply, when Philip answered.

"Emailing the data now. You would not believe the crap I had to bust through to get all this. There was this one firewall – "

"Thank you." Ending the call, he returned to the table and opened the message. The results were encouraging. Most of the connections stopped up the chain at him. There were only a couple of lose ends that needed tying. Closing the laptop, he looked at Jonas expectantly.

"Okay. We'll make the move," he assented.

"Good." Elijah smiled at him, pleased. As if there had been any doubt.