Chaos (Satisfy Series Book Five, The Vampire Diaries)

Ch. 20: What Lies Beneath

In the living room, Luke was chanting a locator spell. 

Damon grew impatient, throwing an ice cube at him.

"That's not helping," Luke told him. 

"Well, you've been failing now for an hour, Wonder Twin, so at this point, I can't imagine it's hurting," Damon told him.

"Damon, I know you're out a friend, but, uh, I'm not sure this guy's the best replacement," I told him.

"I don't think this guy's the best anything if his locator spell skills are any indication," Damon told me. He looked at Luke. "Yo! Where's your sister?" 

"She's tired of being almost murdered," Luke told us. "Look. I can find any person anywhere on the planet, okay? There's just something weird with your friend Enzo. I can't get a read."

Stefan was standing in the doorway. "Enzo? Didn't he, uh, go to Cape Horn?" 

"He flipped his humanity switch," I told him. "There should have been a body count all the way to the airport."

Stefan looked at Damon. "Well, why are you looking for him?" 

"Gee, I don't know, Stefan," Damon said sarcastically. "Vampire with no humanity who wants me dead for killing his girl. Hmm."

"Well, maybe he hired a witch to block whatever Luke's doing," Stefan told us. "Is that possible?" 

"A cloaking spell?" Luke asked. "I guess." 

"That would mean that he doesn't want to be found, so, uh, why don't you just drop it?" Stefan asked.

The door opened, Tyler walking in. "We have a problem." 

*****

Luke and Tyler were sitting across from each other. 

I was pouring myself a drink.

Stefan and Damon were pacing. 

"Markos turned Sloan into a vampire, had her drink Doppelganger blood, and after some chanting ritual thing, she turned human again," Tyler told us. 

"He cured her?" Damon asked.

"He cured her to death," Tyler answered. "The blood took away her vampirism but left her in the state that she was in just before she turned." 

"That state being dead," Stefan said. "Got it."

"So it kills vampires," Luke told us. "What does the spell mean for the witches?" 

"No one cares," I told him. I looked at Tyler. "Wait. Keep going."

"The point is they feel if they can get rid of all magic they'll break some lame-ass witch curse," Tyler told us.

"Markos said they can't settle anywhere without evoking earthquakes or hellfire, but they break that curse, and they just move right on into Mystic Falls," Damon told us.

"And come after Elena and me today, as in now," Stefan told us. 

"Oh, well," I told them. "Markos had a good week or two in the land of the living. Now where is he so I can kill him?" 

"No idea," Tyler told us. "They were moving camp when I got out." 

"Well, good news," I told him. "Our friend Luke here is an alleged genius at locator spells." 

"Travelers are always moving," Luke told us. "They're impossible to track. They'll find Stefan and Elena long before we can find them."

"Well, what about one of those locator spell blocker deals?" Damon asked. "Is that simple enough for you?"