Kismet | Damon Salvatore

Chapter 22

"Why the fuck are we here?"

He grinned as he pulled her through the hallways of the school. "Plenty of restrooms, no flammable surfaces, and it seems nobody's here. You know, it's no wonder America got dumb while I was locked up, they're never in school."

He skidded to a halt in front of a display booth. "What year did you graduate high school?"

She replied gruffly, "2006."

"Are there pictures of you anywhere?"

"They probably don't have any more framed photographs of the Science Club and National Honors Society from over five years ago."

"Right, you were a nerd, they don't seem to commemorate nerds like that."

"Why are we here, Kai? Seriously?"

"I can feel the magic oozing out of me, all over the place," he said. "I have too much magic. It's not burning me but it is escaping me without my say-so. I realized, what if I start to Merge with Jo and my gushing fountains of magic reduce her into a pile of goo? Then I won't have a twin for the Merge."

"Wonderful," said Maribel sarcastically. "And how are you going to practice on me if I'm not immortal and not able to heal?"

"That's where the real magic comes in. I'm going to practice hurting you... then fixing you. See if you are right about how even witches have a healing factor if you concentrate your magic on the right area. Do you mind if I turn your blood into acid?"

"If you do that, I will die almost instantly, you'll fry my organs and cause irreversible damage."

Kai groaned. "Oh, you are so dramatic! I'm sure I can fix it!"

"If you really want me alive to leave your Geminis without power, then you can't practice on me."

"Great. So, I guess that means I have to find your mom or your sister, turn them into vampires, and–"

"Wait," she said immediately. "You can't hurt them."

"I can and I will if you don't cooperate," he said pointedly. "Didn't think that needed to be reiterated. You know, for someone so book smart, you seem pretty socially inept."

"Social situations have never been my strong suit."

"Somewhere out there is a psychologist who would mark that as a red flag. Might even call you a sociopath, Maribelly."

"Stop calling me that."

"I'll call you anything I want to call you. That is the kind of power I have."

He tossed her to the floor, but before she could hit, he pumped his fingers, keeping her body floating just an inch above the ground. He tossed her into the lockers, but just as she made to shield herself, she felt her body careen the other way, avoiding a crash entirely. Her body came to a stop in midair, rigid as a board and floating around in a circle so she could face him. She tried to fight the spell, but would never be strong enough to do it. He'd locked her palms against her thighs so she couldn't hope to siphon it away.

"Now that is impressive," he said, praising himself. The lights started to flicker, causing him to set her down.

She had an idea when she saw him standing right under one of the light fixtures. Sparks flew, growing lesser and lesser by the second. She took advantage of being freed by the spell, holding her hand up so the sparks landed on his shirt. "Incendia."

Kai burst into flames. For extra measure, she slammed both hands down, breaking the light fixture off the ceiling and sending it crashing onto his skull. She didn't check to see if it had worked, she just hoisted herself up and began to run.