Nothing Dark Can Stay, Either

Chapter 25

Were it not for the imminent danger Kai was in, they probably would have done more than kiss.

Instead, the instant they disconnected, panting and desiring more than a single heated peck on the lips, Beatrix had to cast a protective spell over him before sending him back off to the airport.

"Don't get yourself locked up again, alright?" he said, smirking at her as he gave her one last smack on the ass. "I can't be flying over every time you get in trouble."

"Thank you for this," she said, waving as the taxi that he was in began to leave.

She didn't intend to stay in the compound. Part of her was actually itching to be impulsive and head back to Mystic Falls with him— to surprise him. But she knew her job here wasn't done. Everything else aside, she was in this to protect Hope.

Therefore, she made quick work of heading to Lafayette Cemetery, where she found Davina, Rebekah, and Cami sitting down and enjoying a few lattes.

"Beatrix!" said Davina happily. "I didn't know if you'd stop by. Freya let you out?"

"Sure," said Beatrix in response, concealing a smug grin. "What's the move, then?"

"We're thinking of transferring Hope's power source into that golem," said Rebekah, pointing at the clay figurine on the table. "We just need to fix the spells."

Cami raised her hand before she spoke. "I spoke to Vincent Griffith, and he said we'd need to replicate a heartbeat to fool Dahlia. He made a few notes for us about that."

"I'll get to work on it, then," said Beatrix, rolling up her sleeves. "I'm sure I can incorporate all that together. Have you decided on what to link the golem to in order to simulate a heartbeat?"

"Freya," said Rebekah. "Elijah wanted it to be her. It'll force her to help us."

Beatrix pursed her lips as she reviewed the notes. "I don't like the idea of that. A witch like Dahlia, if she has any inkling that it's a trap, will sense that the heartbeat is different sounding from how a baby's normally is. I think the golem should be tied to a separate being— a living baby— so that two heartbeats are heard, one of an adult and one of a baby."

"We can't bring someone else's baby into this! Besides, Elijah is insistent upon it being tied to Freya. It won't let her take any sort of outs. She wanted the real Hope for this, and it made him trust her less."

She snorted. "Fine." She was in no mood to argue, given how she'd only just escaped her confinement. Sometimes, she wondered if Elijah had had a recent head trauma. He claimed he wanted to protect Hope, yet he helped lock Beatrix up. Now, rather than listen to a witch's advice, he was dictating part of the plan.

Clearly, his affections for Hayley were clouding his judgement.

Closer to the evening, Rebekah and Cami left, while Beatrix remained behind with Davina, who was looking nervous.

"Are you okay?" she asked her softly.

"Did Rebekah tell you about the unlinking spell?" she said. "The one that Eva Sinclair put up to link herself to me, and the other kids she was trying to take power from?"

"I believe she vaguely mentioned it. Why?"

"Later tonight, we're going to get Rebekah unlinked from us. I just... well, I don't know if I trust her to do the spell. She hasn't ever studied magic, and she's not good with pronunciation. You know how important that is— if she messes up, she could get us killed."

Beatrix winced. "That's why the bayou witches from the 1700s raised me so properly. Reading and writing and history— it tied in with linguistics and made me more well-rounded when it came to spells. In the moment, I found it quite tedious, but it turned out to be useful. Even in my travels, a lot of young witches are taught language applications before they're allowed to start performing spells."