(3) Just Magic (D. Salvatore)

Chapter Forty-Seven

Damon slowly paces the length of the bedroom floor as he reads from Cassandra's rune book, looking over what needs to be done to fix their bond because he understands why she feels the way she does without it, he feels it too. That link together gives them a level of comfort that with everything else going on in their lives, they kind of need. They need to know that there is someone they can trust implicitly and that bond helps both of them believe that. Cassandra touches her phone as it vibrates on the bedside table before picking it up to check the new message. From Stefan. Informing her that he's done it. He's finished the day's plans. She shifts on the bed, pulling her leg up under her. Damon glances at her from the book in his hand.

"Stefan told me about these coffins" She whispers to him. "Klaus drags them around with him...figured they were important so I text Ally...." She lifts her eyes to meet Damon's own. "Asked her about them...she told me that these coffins are where Klaus stores his siblings after they've been daggered..." Damon touches her knee. "Now they're mine" She adds with a smile. "Ours..." She shrugs. "Consider them a bargaining chip...to stop Klaus from killing you" Damon touches her arm.

"This was your contingency plan?" He asks, she nods.

"I figured if we failed, then there was a chance Klaus would kill you or Stefan or Bonnie or Jeremy or Caroline...or someone less important to his grand scheme...I needed to make sure that wouldn't happen. So...I had Stefan steal the coffins" He snorts a little and moves closer to the bed. "This gives us something, a few somethings we can bargain with" He nods in agreement. That was a smart move. He drops the spellbook into her lap and climbs onto the bed with her, settling behind her, with her back to his chest as she picks up the book.

"So how is this thing going to work?" He asks her as she opens up the book to the page she's been studying all night. To get the two of them back on track. For them to cement that bond again. She holds up the book as her eyes start glowing red, she then leans closer to the book and blows red mist all over the pages, when it disappears it reveals three symbols on the pages. Damon rests his chin on her shoulder to look down at them. "Why are there three?" He asks.

"Two" She corrects and touches the symbols. "One each" She taps two of them. "Then we both get this one..." She draws her fingers over the larger one.

"Why?" He muses turning his head to kiss her neck.

"The little one stabilises the connection, it's personal but still linked, by this.." She touches the small diamond shape in the centre of the designs. "Shape.....But this one" She touches the larger design. "This is complex, this is to fight that physical link, the one that..."

"Hurts you when I get hurt" He voices against her skin, she hums and nods.

"Each part of it" She taps along the parts of the rune design. "Works together to fight against that part of the bond that forces the by-proxy injuries" She holds out her hands and then motions over the bed, when she pulls them back there is a tray with a pot of paint and a few brushes. Damon hums and picks up the pot of paint.

"We have to do the little ones first" Cassandra reads as he peers into the paint, watching it swirl with the red mist of her magic. "Then whilst it's drying we have to connect again"

"How do we do that?" He asks. "The last time we did it it was through a kiss, right?" She nods. "Well we've been doing that and it's not...."

"I've been blocking it" She stops him. "I know when it tries so..." She shrugs and he nods.

"Well, you know I'm always up for a little lip-locking" He teases and kisses her head. "And we're just going to paint these on? We don't need like a magical tattoo gun or something?" She looks at him amused before going back to the book.

"No, we just paint it on and then...magic it" She reads. "It's simple enough..." She turns the page slightly as she reads through the instructions. Damon sniffs at the paint and then shrugs. It does sound rather simple, for something that sounds like it is supposed to be complicated. And rare. If only the Scarlet Witches form these bonds, then having runes to adapt them seems a little far fetched.

"Where did you find these runes?" He asks her.

"I made them" She answers, he gives her a look. "I adapted ones that already exist to work for us" He hums a little and she lifts her eyes to look at him. He looks a little unsure. "It will work" She promises and goes back to the book before she then sets it down. "Okay," She whispers and reaches for the little paintbrushes on the tray. "We'll have to do this simultaneously so that the paint doesn't dry before we connect again" Damon hums and nods.

......

Damon touches the tattoo on his arm, there is no other way to describe it. Rune. Brand. Tattoo. It's a mark on his body that links him to Cassandra. Cassandra pulls on one of Damon's shirts as she moves across the room to him, watching him with marking. She's not feeling any regret from him, so that's good. He lets out a breath and turns to her, the two of them share a look. They can feel one another again. Both having missed it a lot more than they originally thought they did. She rolls her wrist and a knife appears in her hand, the two of them share a look.

"We have to test it" She holds out the knife to him. "I have to know that I got the spell right" He takes the knife from her and lets out a breath.

"Alright" He draws out a little, slightly and momentarily worried that this hasn't worked. Though now he's got that feeling back he's not sure if it is him that's worried or her. He sets the knife against his palm before pushing down, breaking the skin as he drags the blade across his skin. His eyes shifting to Cassandra. She holds out her hand but there is nothing. No red line. No wound. He raises an eyebrow at her.

"I felt your pain but...nothing of my own" She assures him as the knife disappears in a puff of red smoke. "It worked"

"Of course it did" Damon counters tugging her closer to him. "You're crazy smart" She hums a little and tilts her head to look up at him. He nudges her nose and smirks before he kisses her, his hands coming up. "This feels better" He whispers against her lips, his hands soft and warm on her face. It feels different. Better. Connected. That spiritual link back. Linking them soul to soul. She hums against his lips as he walks her backwards heading towards the bed. They are linked again and he is going to exploit this feeling. He remembers that shared passion, the way it felt when they could actually feel one another. He wants that again.

A/N- SO THE RUNE/TATTOO VOTE CAME OUT EVEN FOR TWO OF THE DESIGNS, SO I'VE INCORPORATED BOTH OF THEM INTO THE LITTLE SPELL LORE THING. 

- RING FINGERs. LEFT HAND. 

- Damon's right forearm. Cassandra's back, along her spine.