(2) Just Magic (D. Salvatore)

Chapter Forty-Eight

Damon walks into the lobby of the boarding house when the door opens and closes. Cassandra letting herself in, she perks up a little seeing him, as he does her, but they've both had bad days. They should have just stayed in bed. That was his original idea.

"How did it go?" Damon asks her as she moves towards him. Cassandra pulls a face and then blows a raspberry. "Oh" He teases a little and pulls her closer. "That good?"

"What about you?" She counters. He blows a raspberry back. "That good?" She repeats his question back at her. He snorts and nods before kissing her softly. She hums and curls her fist into his shirt. His hands are soft on her face. The door opens again, Stefan and Elena walking in, Damon pulls back from Cassandra and raises an eyebrow at the pair.

...........

Ally lingers in the doorway listening to Cassandra and Elena tell Damon and Stefan everything they got from Katherine. Ally is a little surprised that for the most part, Katherine was honest with them. And only a tiny bit of manipulation.

"Wow, she actually told you the truth" Ally states, they all look at her as she moves across the room to the armchair.

"Wait, so it's true?" Elena asks. "Really true?" Ally nods and drops into the armchair, one leg under herself.

"Well, sort of" She admits. "For the most part....yes"

"But if Klaus needed the psychic doppelgänger as well, where were you?" Stefan asks her. She lets out a breath and then nods to herself.

"When I first met Kol, that's what he intended on doing" She admits. "To take me to Klaus for my part in the sacrifice. Kol and his family never really got along but he was hoping that giving me to Klaus would go a long way in mending a few bridges. Kol was...." She tilts her head trying to find the right word to describe Kol. "Spirited and unpredictable and a few times he's almost brought down the pitchforks on them all" She shrugs a little. "We arrived in England the day of the sacrifice. Mere hours away....and I had no idea what was waiting for me. Kol was...nervous and agitated. The horses were ready and waiting for us at the port....but so was a messenger sent by Elijah. He told Kol that the sacrifice was off. That Katerina had fled. Kol...He just sunk with relief. The time it took for us to cross the sea....we're fallen in love" She smiles to herself and then looks down. "He dragged me back onto that boot and we fled England. He knew what Klaus would do to me on principle"

"He didn't want you to die" Elena whispers, Ally nods and looks at her.

"We travelled the world following witches and magic and felt more alive as vampires than we ever did as humans. My powers grew stronger the longer I was with him and my love for him just..." She lets out a soft breath. "By the time he rejoined his family, there is nothing I wouldn't have done for him. And vice versa. But Klaus...." She stops and shakes her head. "Whether it was because of Katerina's betrayal or Kol's...I don't know, but that was the last time I saw him. And I have spent the last 308 years without Kol at my side. I want Klaus to pay. And if that means that I stop him from getting his hands on you two, then fine.....and at least this time...I have nothing left he could possibly take from me but you do" She warns slightly. "Are you sure that going up against Klaus is what you want to do?"

"Yeah" Damon answers, straight away. Nothing is taking Cassandra away from him. No one. No matter how scary.

"Even knowing what he could do to the people around you?" Ally asks looking at the twins. Cassandra doesn't know. She doesn't want to die, but if it means protecting her family and the people she loves, then she would drape herself over Klaus' lap in offering. "Now, if you will excuse me, it's been a long day and I would like to take a bath" She stands and leaves the room. Damon lets out a breath and looks at Cassandra who is peering down at her lap thoughtful. Going over everything that happened. Everything that's been said.

"Take me home," Elena tells Stefan. There is still some animosity between them. Stefan nods though and they leave together. Damon raises an eyebrow.

"Oh, is Golden Boy not happy about your little road trip?" He asks Cassandra who snorts and nods.

"Nope," She answers and then rests into his side, his arm wrapping around her shoulders.

"You know I'm not going to let anything happen to you, right?" He whispers, she hums and nods before she looks up at him. He kisses her softly and then nudges her nose.

.........

Cassandra lays on her stomach on Damon's bed, the tiny tv on the dresser playing a rerun of I Love Lucy. She chuckles a little and pulls the red vine from her teeth. Damon smirks from the bathroom doorway. When she is like this. When she is all cute and adorable and a little childish. He likes it. Less worry. Less fear. Less bad going on in her life. She focuses on the television and forgets it all. He leans up and vamp-speeds to the bed. Kneeling on it and then leaning down to her. He kisses her shoulder and lays down on his back next to her, his eyes on her instead of the television.

.........

Ally sits on the floor of her room in complete darkness. It's apparently something that now brings her comfort. Probably because of the tomb. All those years stuck in there with nothing but the darkness. Her phone starts to ring. Her eyes snap open and she looks at her phone next to her. She purses her lips in annoyance. She rather likes her little meditation sessions and now someone has dared to interrupt her. She picks up the phone to answer it.

"Hello?" She greets with a frown.

"Lina?" She is a little more alert now.

"Slater? Are you okay?"

"Yes, I took off, I'm sorry, I was frigging freaked" He admits a little.

"No, I'm sorry that I involved you"

"Look, I want no part in any of this but I did some digging"

"Okay, what did you find?" Ally asks him.

"You can destroy the curse but you need the moonstone"

"How? What do you mean? I don't follow" Ally argues and reaches up to rub her head.

"Can your friend get the moonstone? You need it." Slater asks her, she hums and nods.

"Yes, he can get it" She answers. Even if Damon can't, she just wants to know what to do here. She can lie and then make it up later. "What next?"

"You need a witch. Get the moonstone, a witch should be able to figure out the rest. Good luck, Lina" Slater tells her and then hangs up, she pulls her phone back and looks down at it with a frown when it starts to ring again. She picks it up and sets it to her ear.

"Are you free to talk?" A voice asks her. She glances at the door and then using her powers turns on the radio that is sitting on her dress. Turning it up to a loud volume.

"I am now" She answers and pulls her powers back.

"Do you have the moonstone?" The voice asks her.

"No, but I know where it is and I can get it" She argues quickly.

"And the doppelgängers?"

"Close by and safe" She answers quietly. "As long as he holds up his end of the deal and brings me what I want, he can have them all" She adds. "Oh, and you might want to tell him that I happen to know where Katerina is currently hiding. If that might not speed things along" She then hangs up. She scrunches up her nose and throws her phone onto the bed. She closes her eyes and hangs her head. She hates herself. But she really would do anything to get Kol back.