Whatever It Takes {Two | Alaric Saltzman}

We're Planning a June Wedding

The lamps on tables in the Armory's library were dim. There were small windows between every other shelf and paintings between the others, but they did not offer the same illumination as they did in the main hall. It too, however, expanded two floors, was grand, and seemed to house more than it was capable of. But it was the only room that had not crossed into the modern world save a single computer, so the way they gathered around a table was not new.

Damon's voice was heard through Alaric's phone, "All right, professors, how do we get rid of the Queen of Hell?"

"Are you sure Katherine's in our world?" Alaric asked.

"When Cade crossed planes after the eleventh ring of the bell, other souls could step through too. Same way Kai did," Bonnie explained. "Katherine would have jumped at the chance to get revenge for what we did to her."

Abigail flattened her hands out on the table, leaning over it to say, "Then why haven't we seen her yet? She knows all of our weak spots."

"Abigail's right," Caroline sounded off. "I thought by now she'd be strutting around, making demands, or trying to get us all killed."

Stefan said, "Maybe she's biding her time."

"Or putting her own plan together," Damon added.

Dorian, standing across from Abigail and Alaric, spoke for the first time, "Either way, we're gonna need a new weapon."

"Is that Dorian?" Stefan asked.

"Yeah," Alaric said. "We've asked him to take point on our research front."

"This doesn't mean you and I are cool. I still have those files on you, so I'm here to hold you accountable for the rest of your God-given life."

"I hope that you do."

"So, what have you guys come up with?" Caroline asked.

"Cade was killed with a dagger that was made from his bones. It was fused into glass by a white-hot flame." Dorian tilted his head to the side. "First things first, though, I don't suppose you know where Katherine's bones are?"

Damon laughed. "Oh, who'd have ever thought she'd have done us a favor? We've got every last one of Katherine's bones in the cave, underneath the old church, left over from a Traveler barbecue she had when she tried to possess Elena."

"But fusing the bones into glass?" Bonnie asked. "How do we make that kind of weapon?"

"Would putting the bone in a metal dagger do the trick?" Matt asked. "My parents are in town. I could ask my dad for help."

"'Parents,'" Abigail repeated. "Plural?"

"Unexpected family reunion."

"Seriously?!" Caroline exclaimed.

Matt sighed. "Now I've got two nightmares to deal with."

"Gossip later, townies," Damon grumbled. "Stefan and I will go on bone-fetching duty."

"Dorian, Alaric, and I will research an alternative to fight her," Abigail decided. "If Katherine's back, that means Hell still exists. We need to figure out a way to break her link to it."

"These psychic dimensions are tied to emotional trauma," Bonnie said. "Cade created his when he was burned at the stake. I created mine when I saw Enzo get murdered. I'm just saying maybe there's a way to destroy the dimension itself. Destroying Hell destroys her."

"Great." Abigail looked from Dorian to Alaric. "We are on Hail-Mary miracle duty."

Caroline asked, "How do the rest of us get Katherine to show herself?"