"I hear you," my own roar was unmistakable over the phone.
"Either you release my sister… or I make sure every vampire in that tomb turns to ash."
It was morning, right after I got back from the ball and discovered that Bonnie and Elena had been kidnapped.
I got the call from the vampire Anna using Bonnie's phone and she tried to negotiate.
Apparently I was already widely seen as the owner of the city by the three factions across all regions.
"Do that and she dies," Anna threatened from the other side of the line.
"Kill Bonnie and your mother will have a hell of a death before she turns to ash," I snarled back into the phone. I knew I couldn't let Bonnie get involved with that vampire.
"Calm down, let's negotiate. I heard you're flexible when it comes to deals," Anna replied, now with a hint of fear. "I pay and I release your sister."
"What happened to the vampire you used to deceive my sister?" I asked calmly, my tone firm. "Depending on the answer we'll know whether we're negotiating or not."
"He's dead. Someone from outside tried to attack Bonnie and he tried to save her and ended up dying," Anna said, a trace of fear in her voice. "His head was ripped off."
"In front of Bonnie?" I asked, now worried. If he died trying to save her she could end up traumatized.
"No… but she saw the body," Anna replied when I recovered it to bury him.
The phone went silent for a few seconds. Not a normal silence — the kind that seems to pull the air out of the room, as if the house itself were waiting for my answer.
I walked slowly across the room, watching the morning light spill through the window.
"You want to open the tomb," I finally said, my voice low and steady. "Only your mother. No one else."
On the other end Anna didn't answer immediately. She was smart. She knew that when I got calm it was worse.
"Yes."
"Then listen carefully." I leaned against the wall, closing my eyes for a second, organizing the variables like it was a mathematical problem. Vampires. Witches. The tomb. The balance of the city. Bonnie. Elena. "You release them first."
"I'm not an id—"
"First," I repeated, without raising my voice. "They walk out. Whole. No compulsion. No tricks. I'll check personally."
Silence.
"Then," I continued, "I get the tomb opened. You take your mother and you pay me for the service."
"You're asking me to trust you."
"Of course. Look at you — you kidnapped my sister and you're still alive," I replied with a small smile. "You're alive because I'm reliable when I make deals."
Her breathing became audible.
"…And the payment?"
That was the part that really mattered.
"Five million. In cash. Nothing traceable. Consider it… a crisis-management fee," I said — and she actually smiled, it really was a low price — "and your soul and loyalty… belonging to me for a thousand years."
"That's extortion."
"That's you kidnapping my sister," I said, finally letting a bit of the snarl slip through. "I'm being generous."
More silence.
"Deal," she said.
I hung up without saying goodbye.
—
Bonnie and Elena showed up two hours later, left in front of the house like a delivery.
I ignored Elena running inside and went straight to Bonnie.
"How are you?" I asked softly.
"He died, Nik, he died," she cried and ran into my arms and I held her. "When I find who did this… I'm going to turn that son of a bitch into a rat and let cats torture him."
At the end of her voice there was rage, hatred — and to make it worse there wasn't even a sign she knew who had killed him… Irritating. Is there another player in the city? Maybe Katherine testing limits?
Probably another vampire working for Anna killed Bonnie's "boyfriend." At least he died for a good cause.
I sent a mental message to the guards on the Other Side to place him in a lesser paradise.
As a prince I had a certain influence over the Other Side… perks of being my mother's son.
Bonnie was traumatized…
But alive. No compulsion. No injuries.
That was enough.
—++---
That night I was at the Salvatore Boarding House.
Damon opened the door already holding a glass of bourbon and that smile of someone who thinks he knows more than everyone else.
"If it isn't the new king of Mystic Falls," he said with a growl. "Came to ruin my plans again and shove me under another tree?"
"Business."
That erased half his smile.
I walked in without being invited.
"I'm going to open the tomb and kill every vampire in there, but I can make one exception," I said, grabbing a bottle and pouring myself a drink. "I know you want to open the tomb to get someone out. I just don't know who."
His eyes lit up.
"Katherine."
"So that's her name?"
He nodded and stepped closer, handing me the glass he was holding.
"And you can make that happen?"
"I can."
"So what do you want?"
I took a sip and felt the delicious taste of blood and alcohol. Yes — my dormant vampire side still had an effect on me — letting the silence work.
"Money."
He laughed.
"You're charging me to bring back the love of my life?"
"No," I replied. "I'm charging for the service of opening the tomb, controlling the vampires inside, preventing a massacre in the city and delivering what you want."
"You really did become the owner of this place."
"I always was," I said calmly.
He stared at me for a few seconds.
"How much?"
"Fifty million."
His smile died.
"That's absurd."
"You're paying for the hope of seeing Katherine again," I replied. "Sounds cheap to me."
Damon downed the drink in one go.
"Deal."
I held out my hand.
He shook it.
—
When I left the mansion, the night wind was cold and light.
Two negotiations.
Two fortunes.
One tomb that would be opened…
…to deliver only one vampire.
And the best part?
Katherine had never been there.
It wasn't just about money.
It was about control.
About making vampires, witches and humans all play on my board without even realizing they were pieces.
Mystic Falls now breathed at the rhythm I decided.
+++_
"Bonnie, wake up," I sat on the edge of my bed where she was sleeping.
Since I rescued her, Bonnie had taken my room as her safe harbor. We chose not to tell Caroline so we wouldn't worry her.
"No… I should have helped Ben," Bonnie cried.
"You know he kidnapped you," I replied, not understanding her sadness.
"No — at the end of the ball… he told me to call you… said we were surrounded and told me to run," she cried, burying her face in the pillow. "I ran and got caught by Anna. She took me to him and he was already there, headless… I'm a coward."
Bonnie cried and cried and cried.
"Bonnie… it's good that you ran…" I said — I had no intention of comforting her. "You got away from something capable of killing a vampire. Even a young one is still a vampire — and vampires are among the most physically powerful beings in the world. Something that killed him that fast… wouldn't be defeated by a beginner witch."
"Fine. I'll train and kill that son of a bitch," she said with hatred. "I'm going to be the most powerful witch in the world."
"That's right… now you need to get your grandma out of the city," I began with my biggest concern. "She's already old and hasn't practiced magic. If she finds out I'm going to open the island… she'll try to interfere and she'll die."
"Mhm," Bonnie nodded with a small whine.
---+++---
Night fell heavy over the ruined church, as if the air itself knew something ancient and wrong was about to be awakened.
The tomb was beneath our feet.
Sealed for generations.
Waiting.
I stood in the center of the circle, watching Bonnie finish the last symbol. Her hands still trembled slightly — trauma doesn't disappear, it's tamed — but the magic flowed steadily.
Silent pride.
Power born from pain.
Anna stood a few steps behind me, tense like an animal ready to run.
Damon, on the other hand, looked relaxed… but I could hear his heart racing. Vampires have faith too — they just call it obsession.
"Last chance to back out," I said without looking back.
"Never," Damon replied.
Anna didn't even breathe.
"It's done."
The ground trembled.
Not an explosion.
It was as if the world had exhaled after holding its breath for a hundred and fifty years.
The seal broke.
A dead wind rose from the stairway.
The smell of old blood, damp stone and despair.
The tomb was open.
I turned to them.
"Anna."
She didn't wait for permission. She ran down.
Damon went right after her.
I went last.
Every step was a calculation.
Every shadow a possible threat.
But the vampires inside the tomb were too weak. Centuries of hunger turn monsters into ghosts.
Sunken eyes.
Skin clinging to bone.
Powerless snarls.
Anna passed them without looking, as if they were furniture.
"Mother!" her voice broke halfway.
Pearl was collapsed against the wall, motionless.
For a second Anna froze.
That moment between fear and hope.
Then Pearl opened her eyes.
Anna dropped to her knees.
And for the first time since I met that manipulative vampire…
she cried like a daughter.
Deal fulfilled.
Damon wasn't looking at them.
He was searching.
Turning bodies.
Pushing vampires aside.
Opening every stone cell.
"Katherine?" his voice started firm.
Then louder.
"Katherine!"
Silence.
I leaned against the wall, watching.
He came back to the center of the tomb.
Eyes wide.
"She's not here."
Not a question.
A man having his heart ripped out without anyone touching him.
"You lied to me," he snarled.
"No," I said calmly. "I said I would open the tomb."
He lunged.
Fast.
Pure rage.
I caught him by the throat before he reached me.
"The deal was to open it," I said quietly. "Not to guarantee the contents."
He tried to break free.
Failed.
"Katherine was never here," I finished, looking straight into his eyes. "You spent a hundred and fifty years trying to save someone who didn't need saving… how ironic."
That destroyed him more than any blow.
I let him go.
He fell to his knees.
Laughing.
That broken laugh that sounds like crying.
In the back, Anna helped Pearl stand.
Her mission complete.
Mine too.
I gestured to Bonnie.
She began the second spell.
Fire.
Not ordinary fire.
Purification fire.
The remaining vampires in the tomb began to scream.
And for the first time Damon didn't react.
He just stood there.
Empty.
The flames climbed the stone walls.
Turning centuries of horror into ash.
When we came back to the surface, the night air felt new.
Anna passed me carrying her mother.
She stopped.
"You kept your word."
"I always do."
She hesitated.
"If you ever need me—"
"I will… don't leave the city. Your life belongs to me now," I replied.
She nodded and disappeared into the darkness with her mother in her arms.
Damon came out last.
Dead eyes.
"She's alive," I said before he could leave.
He stopped.
"I don't know where. But she never entered the tomb."
Hope and hatred.
The most valuable currencies in the world.
He looked at me.
Not as an enemy.
Not as an ally.
When I was alone, I looked at the ruined church behind me.
Two fortunes.
A city under my control.
A witch growing stronger every day.
A vampire who owed me a favor.
And a five-hundred-year-old vampire whose soul belonged to me for a thousand years.
And somewhere…
Everything worked out… things are getting better.