Coalesce (Book Six of The Vampire Diaries)

Ch. 10: Christmas Through Your Eyes

I was finding every excuse imaginable to stay clear of Enzo, Stefan and Matt.

It was easier than I thought it would be. 

Jo was missing.

Alaric, Elena, Damon and I met together in Alaric's office. 

"So, I asked around the hospital," Elena told us. "No one's seen Jo since last night at the ER. A bunch of stab victims came in, and one of them's missing as well."

"It was Kai," Alaric told us. "Jo knew he'd come after her, and he did."

"Not to give you boyfriend lessons or anything, but if you knew Jo's whackjob brother was out on the loose and after her, don't you think that keeping an eye on her would have been a smart move?" I asked.

"And what would you have had me do, Kaylin?" Alaric asked. "Ask you or Damon to compel Jo to stay put?" 

I nodded.

"Guys, if Kai has Jo, we need a plan," Elena told us.

"Plan's easy," Damon told us. "Find Kai, pfft, kill Kai." We looked at him. "Mm-hmm."

******

Damon was on the phone with Matt. "Just think sociopathic Ryan Reynolds."

"Haven't seen him." 

"Grunge vibe, annoying as hell."

"Still no idea." 

"Well, if he has half a brain, he will be hiding where vampires can't find him. So, in between levels of Mario Kart, can you and little baby Gilbert maybe keep an eye out?" 

"Yeah, got it. If we see him, we'll let you know." 

Matt hung up.

******

"Well, Bevis and Butthead are on the lookout," I told them. "Anyone else brimming with confidence?"

"I mean, this just doesn't make sense," Alaric told us.

"What could possibly not make sense about magical twins absorbing into one another?" Damon asked.

"Listen," Alaric told us. "Jo needs her magic for the merge to work, okay, and she got rid of that back in 1994."

******

"Jo doesn't have magic because it's stuffed in a knife that was stolen and hidden by yours truly," I told them. "Kai won't find it."

"Yeah, unless Kai does a locator spell," Alaric told us. 

"It's impossible," Damon told him.

"Why?" Alaric asked.

Elena looked at Alaric. "Kai was born without the ability to do magic."

******

"If the only way to restore Jo's magic is to reunite her with that knife, Kai's gonna come for it," Alaric told us.

"Ric's right," Elena told us. "Even if Kai can't do the locator spell, he's gonna make it his mission to find it."

"Kai finds it," I told them. "Great. Love it."