What's At Stake, Part Eighteen

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Christ. Get a freaking room already, and stop messing with my storytelling!



Three more sections to go, I figure. Unfortunately, they won't be out before the new episode airs tomorrow night. I'll be out of town for dog shows the next three days, and not sure how much time or Internet access I'll have. I may get something posted from there, I may not.    :-/
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Elijah capped the marker and turned to face the room, looking at each of them in turn. “Is everyone clear on his or her assignment?”

“Before the ritual, I switch Tyler for Jules, because she will have him caged for the ceremony,” Caroline piped up at once. “And then I play sacrificial vampire.”

“How’s Tyler doing?” Elena asked. “I haven’t talked to him since the lake house.”

“He just came home the other night. Jules brought him back, after Elijah called her,” Caroline explained. “He was really upset when I told him about the ritual and that Jules was planning on handing him over to be sacrificed for it.”

“So you talked to him?”

“Yeah.” Caroline shrugged. “It was kinda weird, you know? But, like, everything has been so intense, and there’s been no time to breathe or anything, and I know he was upset about Mason, but I don’t think he’s a bad guy, he was just all like ‘Grr!’ because he didn’t know who to trust, and I was all ‘Aargh!’ because hello! Friends don’t let friends get shot in the head! I mean, who does that? But then he was all sorry and – ”

Damon reached over and smacked her on the back of the head. Caroline gave him a ‘what?’ look, which Damon answered by miming zipping his lips.

Elijah cleared his throat. “Moving on?”

“I lie on the altar and bleed,” Elena said ruefully.

“After which I heal her,” Stefan put in, taking Elena’s hand and looking at her with that cloyingly sweet expression that made Elijah want to slap it right off of his face, because God.

“While Bonnie and I fake a curse-breaking.” Bonnie looked dubious at this assertion put forward by Andie.

“And I do stabby time on Klaus with the dagger,” Jeremy finished, which made Bonnie turn the look on him.

“I still don’t – ”

Elijah cut Elena off with a look. “Non-negotiable, Elena. Jeremy and I have another week to practice.” He pointed toward the diagram of the burial ground, indicating three points he had marked around the circle. “While you all play your parts, Damon, Alaric and I will keep whatever mayhem Klaus brings with him under control.”

It was, of course, more involved than that, but Elijah wasn’t going to spell it out in vivid detail in front of the group, and especially not in front of Andie. He had laid out the whole plan – well, most of the plan – for Damon earlier, so that the younger vampire could carry out some of the behind-the-scenes tasks that needed to be accomplished prior to the full moon. The last detail, he would see to himself.

“Then if there are no more questions, I believe we are adjourned.”

Caroline made a beeline for the pan of brownies, followed closely by Bonnie, Andie and Jeremy. Stefan and Elena slipped out of the room. Damon stood in a corner, talking in a low voice with Alaric. Katerina stalked over to Elijah, looking murderous.

“I told you I want in,” she hissed, without preamble.

“Yes, so you said.”

“Then what do I need to do to prove it to you?!”

“You haven’t a very good track record for being trustworthy, Katerina.”

She whirled away from him, crossing her arms as she huffed out a breath. He could see her practically vibrating with rage, a rage that she was, so far, suppressing, probably for fear that if she gave in to it, she’d lose whatever slim chance she had of convincing him. He let her stew for a few more moments. “I did have one idea…”

Katerina turned back to face him, suspicious and hopeful at the same time. Elijah cocked his head to indicate the doorway, then leaned down toward her. “Come out to the terrace,” he told her in a low voice, barely audible. “Bring Andie and Jeremy with you, but don’t be obvious about it.” Without waiting for a response, Elijah made his way outside.

It took a few minutes for Katerina to cull the boy and the witch away from the others and herd them outside, but eventually all three joined him. “Katerina here has requested that she play a part in next week’s festivities,” he told the other two, sounding dubious.

“Vampire sacrifice?” Jeremy volunteered.

“I had something a little different in mind.” Elijah turned to Andie. “Glamours are more or less your specialty, yes?”

“Mm-hm.”

He looked back and forth between Katerina and Jeremy. “Can you switch them?”

“Huh?” “What?” Jeremy and Katerina said together.

Andie considered for a moment. “Visually, sure. A tactile illusion would be tougher, but I can do it. As far as weight and mass go, forget it.”

“A visual change should be sufficient,” Elijah assured her. “The idea is to not have enough physical contact for someone to tell the difference.”

“Um, why, exactly?” Jeremy asked.

Elijah spoke to Katerina. “Klaus will come after you. He will expect you to be frightened of him; moreover, he will not expect you to assault him. And he will most definitely not expect you to stab him with the dagger. By switching your appearances, it will afford Jeremy the opportunity to get close, and will give him the needed element of surprise.”

‘Elijah, I’m the next oldest vampire in the group. You want me to just stand around and pretend to be Jeremy?”

“You asked for something to do, Katerina. If you think you can’t handle it…”

“I’d prefer something a little more proactive.”

“Did you want to wield the dagger?" She rolled her eyes at him. "I thought not.”

“What about a double whammy?” Jeremy asked suddenly. “She hits him with a vervain dart to distract him, and I dagger him?”

Elijah considered. “That’s not a bad idea, actually. We’ll do the spell prior to going in?” He looked to Andie for confirmation.

“Yeah. We’ll do it here before we head over.”

“Then I believe we’re in agreement. Happy?” he asked Katerina, as Andie and Jeremy filed back inside.

She lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “Better than sitting on the sidelines, I suppose.”

Elijah made as though to follow the other two into the house, then snapped an arm around her neck as he passed behind her. "And Katerina?” he whispered, his lips brushing along her ear, making her gasp. “If you’re considering betraying me, I suggest you reconsider. Carefully.”

A shiver ran down through her, and she reached back, caressing his thigh as she wriggled against him. “You’re so hot, Elijah. I love when you’re aggressive,” she purred. “Shall we seal the bargain? We could make it something more than a handshake…”

He started debating which ‘gratuitous act of violence’ to perpetrate on her this time, but something about the utter predicability of it, as pointed out by Katerina herself earlier, made him balk at the idea. That, and her admission that it pleased her to goad him into hurting her. Since he was loathe to please her, he decided to try a different tack.

Sliding his free hand down her back, he extended his fangs and grazed the back of her neck with them, leaving momentary, shallow furrows in her flesh. “Such as?” He nibbled down the side of her neck, pulling her shirt aside to continue along her shoulder. With each nip he pierced her skin, and licked each little drop of blood that he brought to the surface. He eased the iron grip he had around her to stroke down her sides, then back up the front of her, eliciting a sharp gasp when his hands skimmed over her breasts.

Katerina had stiffened when he had first grabbed and threatened her, then frozen when he'd used his teeth on her. She came to life now. Lightning fast, she eeled around so she was facing him and caught his lips with hers as she wrapped her arms around his neck. The force of her eagerness rocked him back against the stone wall that wrapped the terrace. Her tongue darted into his mouth, and he tasted more of her blood as she sliced it against his fangs. The taste of it only seemed to incite her further.

She moaned and pressed against him as she locked her lips on his. Seemingly of its own volition, his hand tangled in her hair and pulled her head back painfully, giving him access to her throat, which he nipped and sucked and kissed, almost in a frenzy before coming up to feverishly claim her mouth again.

Bunching his muscles, he pushed away from the wall until she fetched up against a wrought-iron table. The momentum bent her back and pitched him forward, so that her back hit the table. Never releasing her mouth, he rode her down, groaning deep in his throat as she locked her legs around his waist and ground against him. He vaguely registered the sound of small items tinking against the iron and raining down on the paver stones, then her nails were raking his bare chest, and his body was reminding him painfully that it hadn't done this for decades, and the warning klaxon in his head, alerting him that he had long since lost all control of the situation, was far distant and fading fast...

He would realize later, when he could think again, that he would have taken her right there and then, and damn the consequences, if the french doors onto the terrace hadn't opened at that moment, and Elena hadn't walked out.

"Oh!" She jumped, startled at finding anyone out there, then blushed furiously when the scene before her registered. "Uh... um... I'll... I'm going... To stop talking now." Elena spun around and went back into the house, closing the door firmly behind her.

Elijah peeled up off of Katerina and all but flung himself away from her. Turning and leaning his hands on the stone wall, he closed his eyes and took several deep breaths, willing the blood back up into his brain. A breeze against his skin made him look down, and he realized that his shirt was gaping open, the buttons torn off of it – them falling was likely the noise he had heard. Cursing himself viciously for being a fool and getting caught in his own snare, he squared his shoulders and turned around, bracing himself for the inevitable smug look of triumph on Katerina's face.

She had sat up, legs dangling over the edge of the table, panting slightly. She didn't look triumphant. She looked stunned. Well, mission partially accomplished, anyway, he thought, only slightly mollified. With no witty rejoinder leaping to mind, he retired the field and strode inside, leaving her to the night air and her thoughts, whatever those might be.

Making a beeline for the jacket he had tossed across the back of a chair, he caught Damon's WTF look out of the corner of his eye. He ignored him, grabbing the car keys out of his jacket pocket after he had buttoned it as far as it would go. Spotting Jeremy, he held the keys up and motioned him over. "Tell your sister it's time to go home."

"Uh, okay..."

He didn't wait for compliance, just went out the front door and got into his car, turning it on to warm the engine while he waited for the Gilberts to come out. When they did, he thanked whatever gods would listen when Jeremy called shotgun. The boy filled the ride back to the house with talk of martial arts, fighting styles, and so forth.

Elena, in the back seat, remained silent.

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School, sparring practice, and last minute preparations kept everyone busy enough over the next week that there was little time for conversation, especially of the awkward variety. Elena had gone straight to her room when they had arrived home; the next morning, they had studiously avoided any mention of the scene. That unspoken agreement had remained the status quo.

The days fell into a strange rhythm and routine. Elijah spent the time while Elena and Jeremy were in school going over preparations with Damon or Andie, touching base with out-of-town contacts about various matters, and keeping an eye around town for any more Klaus sightings. Though he occasionally saw him go in or out of one business establishment or another, neither approached the other in conversation again. It was irrelevant, at any rate. They would say – and do – everything they needed to one another when the full moon rose.

Afternoons, when school let out, Elijah spent a few hours working with Jeremy on basic hand-to-hand and knife skills. Privately, he very much doubted that Jeremy would be able to hit his target, even with the subterfuge of the glamour. It didn't matter; the boy's ring would protect him from harm. It had never been Elijah's intent that Jeremy would be the one to kill Klaus anyway.

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Two days prior to the full moon, Elijah went to visit Andie. He met her outside the news station, leaning against her car in the staff parking lot. She looked surprised to see him, but if it was beyond the normal surprise of a friend dropping by unannounced, she didn't show it.

"Elijah! What are you doing here?"

"I'm just making the rounds, checking to see that everyone has things in place. How is Bonnie coming along?"

Andie fished her keys out of her purse and unlocked the driver's door so she could toss her briefcase inside. "She's doing well. She has basic spell work covered, and some not-so-basic. She'll hold."

"What about her ability to channel?"

She shrugged. "It's really not my area, so beyond general advice, like clearing her mind, centering, etc., there wasn't a whole lot I could do."

"Will I be able to access Jonas if need be?"

"I don't know, honestly."

"Then I'd better prepare some contingency plans." He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his camera. "I took some photos at the burial ground when Damon and I visited. There are a couple that are... odd. If you have a few moments, perhaps we could take a look at them on your computer inside?"

"Sure." She locked her car back up and led him inside the building, past the bustling newsroom and through a large, cubicled room to a small, windowless office. "Do you have the USB cable for the camera?"

He produced it out of his pocket. She plugged it into the computer and took a few moments to download the right software. Images of the grounds started to pop up, thumbnail size, on her screen as the download progressed. When he saw the right one pop up, he pointed to it. "Can you bring that one up full screen?"

She did so. And gasped when the image filled the screen. The shot was one that he had taken when they were on the path, headed toward the clearing. A few yards in the distance, looking out of the trees, was a clearly outlined apparition. Three other photos in the series, two more from the path in and one in the clearing itself, showed similar images. "That is... really creepy," she decided, at last.

"It felt creepy. And please consider the source when I say that." Elijah shifted a coffee cup over so he could perch on the edge of the desk. "How do you think this will affect the spell work?"

Andie lifted her hands, let them fall into her lap. "I just don't know. There's power there, obviously, and... echoes, but whether there is any consciousness to them... there's no telling until we're there. If anything, it may affect Bonnie's ability to focus, if there is a consciousness there that wants an outlet."

"That's what I thought, too. I'll talk with her, warn her about what to expect."

"Sorry for the non-answer," she shrugged.

"Your thoughts are running the same direction as mine, at any rate." He unhooked the camera and cord, and stood. "Thank you. For everything, not just for this. You've been a great help to me in getting everyone working together." He took her hand and raised it to his lips. "I won't forget your contributions after this is over."

It was a minute flicker, just a tiny flinch behind the eyes, but he saw it. He pretended he hadn't, busying himself with digging up his keys, and let himself out, leaving her at her desk, looking troubled.

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The most critical preparation, he left for last, just the day before the ritual. He found the house easily enough, and was happy that her car was parked in the driveway so that he wouldn't have to wait. Wouldn't consider it some more. Wouldn't risk changing his mind and seeing everything unravel.

Bonnie answered the door with trepidation, seeing who it was who rang. He suspected she wouldn't invite him in. That was okay. He didn't need her to.

"For tomorrow's ritual, Bonnie: there is one more preparation that I need you to make.