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Mephisto left.
And he left laughing.
Hawk could clearly sense it—the gloating expression Mephisto shot his way the moment he turned to close Hell's Dimensional gate behind him.
One simple truth.
Even though Heaven was coming for Mephisto's territory this time—
Heaven was Mephisto's enemy. Hawk was also Mephisto's enemy. And when your enemy squared off against another enemy of yours, that was good news.
Mephisto was probably thrilled at the prospect of Hawk and Heaven going to war.
Ideally, they'd tear each other apart.
Hawk said nothing. He just watched Mephisto close the gate, then stepped back out of the spatial rift himself.
The next second, Katherine's dazed expression instantly cleared. She looked at Hawk, who had just withdrawn his right hand, and instinctively took a step back.
She didn't know what had just happened.
But Katherine knew she'd been unconscious for a second or two.
She hated that feeling.
Hawk, having retracted his hand, glanced at Katherine as she backed away and smiled faintly. "Thank you."
Even though he didn't quite understand what Heaven's attempt to reclaim Earth's souls from Mephisto had to do with him—
This was between him and Heaven.
Katherine had nothing to do with it.
She wasn't one of those "birds" from Heaven that Mephisto had mentioned. Even though her soul originated from the Heaven Dimension, her essence was no different from any other soul in Hell's jurisdiction.
Just a different point of origin.
"Let's go."
Hawk turned away, prepared to honor his promise. Just as he'd agreed in their deal, he'd help Katherine leave this sealed tomb.
As for Dr. Merrick—who was possibly connected to Heaven's interference—Hawk would track down Heaven and demand an explanation.
With that thought, he spoke to Katherine, then turned and walked toward the tomb's seal.
Katherine froze for a moment, then chose to follow.
Hawk stopped at the barrier, raised an eyebrow, and vanished.
Katherine watched him disappear, her heart sinking.
Just as she was about to wonder if Hawk had tricked her—she felt searing heat approaching from behind. Two hands settled on her cold shoulders.
The next second—
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Hawk's hands gripped Katherine's shoulders. In the blink of an eye, he pulled her through the seal from behind, freeing her from her prison.
Katherine's tense body relaxed the instant Hawk's hands left her shoulders.
Hawk slipped his hands back into his pockets.
"You're free to go."
"..."
Actually, Hawk didn't even need to say it. The moment his hands left Katherine's shoulders, she'd already vanished like a phantom, disappearing from the valley at supernatural speed.
But soon, Katherine reappeared in front of Hawk.
Hawk, who had been contemplating the Heaven situation, frowned as he looked at Katherine—who had returned, and whose wariness and hidden fear had diminished somewhat.
"What, did you live here so long you got attached? Don't want to leave?"
"No." Katherine shook her head, looking at Hawk with genuine curiosity. Her voice held neither seduction nor coldness. "Can you tell me your name?"
Hawk chuckled.
"Hawk."
"I'm Katherine."
"I know."
Hawk's expression remained neutral. "I know your name, Miss Pierce."
Katherine smiled at his formal address.
"I'm leaving now. Thank you, Hawk."
"Take care."
Hawk's response was brief.
Katherine said nothing more. She turned, and in an instant, she was gone.
But...
The next second, Hawk looked at Katherine, who had once again returned to stand before him, and laughed outright. "Are you seriously planning to move in here permanently?"
Katherine shook her head, about to speak when—
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Three figures descended one after another, landing nearby like ghosts in the night.
Stefan.
Damon.
And Caroline.
"Well, well."
Hawk raised an eyebrow, looking at Caroline with a smile. "It's pretty late. Didn't you say you were going home to sleep, cousin?"
That had been Caroline's excuse after the estate dinner—while Aunt Liz was still chatting with Gwen, Caroline had claimed she was tired and heading home to bed.
Caroline looked at Hawk standing beside Katherine, hearing his words, and felt the awkward sting of being caught in a lie. "Hawk."
Damon let out a cold laugh. "So you really did come here for Katherine."
Hawk's gaze settled on Damon, his tone eerily calm. "The fact that you're still alive is a gift from me. You should learn gratitude."
Did Damon need to live?
Not in Hawk's eyes. Aside from Gwen, there wasn't a single person whose survival was non-negotiable.
Damon was alive only because Hawk had chosen mercy over execution. It had been a casual decision.
But to Hawk, it was a gift. And Damon should be grateful. If he wasn't, Hawk had no problem taking that gift back.
Hawk's voice was soft.
But—
Every word carried weight.
Damon bristled at the comment, his brow furrowing as he prepared to retort. But Stefan, standing beside him, spoke first, his expression wary. "Mr. Phoenix, did you come here for Katherine?"
Hawk glanced at Stefan—who at least had some manners—and chuckled softly before turning to Katherine. "Aren't you leaving?"
Katherine looked at Stefan, then at Damon, who was glaring at her with open hostility. "They took my daylight ring. And I'm weak right now. If they come after me, I won't be able to outrun them."
Hawk's gaze dropped to Katherine's bare fingers.
The next second—
With a thought, he pulled a ring from his pocket and handed it to Katherine. "This ring will shield you from UV rays for seventy-two hours. That should be long enough for you to find a real daylight ring."
He'd created it using the Reality Stone—a temporary construct.
At first, after manifesting his Cosmo's power with the Reality Stone, he hadn't been able to use it for anything else.
But over time, especially after absorbing Tiamut's life energy, he'd gained the ability to craft simple objects with it.
Like this ring, programmed to block UV light for seventy-two hours.
Hawk remembered that Katherine had her own witch.
Witches and vampires often had symbiotic relationships.
The dynamic was similar to wolves and jackals working together.
Especially black witches and vampires.
Vampires needed black witches' magic to walk in sunlight and neutralize their weaknesses, while black witches needed vampires for protection. Back when Black lives weren't valued, many black witches had sold themselves to vampires.
After all, being owned by someone was inevitable. Might as well choose who.
Katherine's eyes lit up as Hawk handed her the ring. "That'll work."
She'd wandered for five centuries. Real friends? Maybe not many. But she had plenty of daylight rings stashed away, along with safe houses stocked with blood. Within a five-hundred-kilometer radius, she had at least one safe house.
Hearing her confirmation, Hawk passed the ring to Katherine. "Remember—seventy-two hours. After that, the ring disappears. Now go."
Katherine quickly slipped the ring on, then glanced at the three people in front of her—two ex-boyfriends and Caroline, whom she'd killed and inadvertently turned into a vampire. None of them looked friendly.
"What about them..."
"You showed me your soul. I promised to free you. You're free to go. They won't chase you. But remember—this promise is a one-time deal."
"Thank you."
"Don't mention it."
Hawk slipped his hands back into his pockets, looking at Stefan, Damon, and Caroline.
"Go."
"Alright."
Katherine didn't hesitate. She nodded, and in the next instant, her form blurred into motion, vanishing toward the forest.
The next second—
Damon moved first, determined to intercept the woman he'd once loved so deeply—and now hated just as fiercely.
His love had been that intense. Now his hatred matched it.
But the moment Damon moved—
Hawk's eyes narrowed.
"Eye Beam."
BOOM!
Damon, mid-sprint in his blurred form, was struck instantly. He slammed into the mountainside with a deafening crash.
The rock wall cracked, fissures spreading outward.
"Damon!"
Stefan saw his brother fall into the rubble and shouted, turning to Hawk. His form vanished.
Hawk smiled faintly, standing completely still. He didn't even bother activating his Cosmo.
"Eye Beam."
WHAM!
Stefan, who had nearly reached Hawk, was ejected from his blurred state. His body doubled over like a shrimp before he was launched backward.
CRASH. CRASH. CRASH.
Several massive trees in the distant forest snapped on impact.
Caroline—
She didn't dare move.
Just as Caroline was debating whether she should try—Hawk's gaze locked onto her.
Caroline met his eyes. Her body froze.
At the same time, Taking advantage of the distraction, Katherine successfully escaped, fleeing Mystic Falls and heading toward one of her safe houses.
Caroline, under Hawk's warning stare, opened her mouth. "Are you one of Katherine's ex-boyfriends too? Does my cousin know?"
Hearing that, Hawk's lips curved slightly. His eyes gleamed with amusement as he looked at Caroline.
"What, you don't dare attack me, so now you're going to threaten me with your cousin? Planning to tattle on me, dear cousin?"
"No."
Caroline shrugged. "I can tell you love my cousin. And she loves you. I'm just curious—does she know about this? Because Gwen is my cousin. If she doesn't know, I have a responsibility to tell her."
Hawk's expression turned playful as he looked at Caroline.
"Funny. Your cousin said the same thing to me when I got here."
"What?"
"She said you're her cousin. She's responsible for you."
"..."
Caroline froze, staring at Hawk.
Hawk smiled. "Your cousin said you're only nineteen. You've got your whole life ahead of you. She asked me if there was a way to turn you back from a vampire into a human."
That was why he'd warned Caroline with his eyes earlier.
Clearly, Gwen cared about this cousin. Otherwise, she wouldn't have asked if there was a way to reverse vampirism.
Caroline's eyes widened.
"My cousin knows I'm..."
"Ask her yourself."
"What?"
Caroline's response was automatic. Then she watched as Hawk, still standing in place, pulled a phone from his pocket.
Hawk held the phone to his ear, smiling as he spoke to Gwen on the other end. "Gwen, your cousin's about to snitch on me. She's claiming I didn't come to Mystic Falls to spend time with you—I came to rescue some ex-girlfriend."
Gwen, who habitually waited up for Hawk unless he specifically told her not to, was standing on the back lawn of the estate. Hearing Hawk's complaint, she let out a soft, amused laugh. "Put her on."
Hawk hummed in acknowledgment, then tossed the phone toward Caroline.
"Your cousin wants to talk to you. Oh, and feel free to ask her if she believes I'm Katherine Pierce's ex-boyfriend."
"..."
Caroline instinctively caught the phone. She glanced at the call duration—thirty minutes—then looked at Hawk's smirking expression. Taking a deep breath, she brought the phone to her ear.
"...Gwen?"
"Caroline."
Gwen's voice came through, gentle and calm. "I thought you'd gone to bed. Since you're still up, why don't you come keep me company? Remember when I used to visit Mystic Falls? We always shared a bed the first night."
Caroline was silent for a moment before responding. Then, hearing her cousin's voice on the other end, she tossed the phone back to Hawk. "Gwen wants to talk to you."
Hawk caught it.
"Gwen."
"Are you done?"
"There are still two vampires here. I'm debating whether to—"
"Bring Caroline back. She's afraid of the dark."
"...Alright."
Hawk smiled and agreed, then hung up. He looked at Caroline. "Let's go. Your cousin says you're afraid of the dark. She wants me to bring you back."
Caroline hesitated, glancing at Damon, unconscious in the rubble, and Stefan, knocked out in the forest.
Just as she was about to speak, Hawk was already in front of her. His right hand settled on her shoulder as his Cosmo surged.
Sixth Sense—Instantaneous Movement.
Whoosh!
Hawk and Caroline vanished.
...
The next moment—
Two more figures rushed into the clearing.
The black witch Bonnie and Elena—who had been slower than the vampires but was now enhanced by Bonnie's speed spell.
Elena's eyes immediately found Stefan, unconscious on the ground. She cried out and ran toward him.
As for Damon?
Bonnie glanced at him, buried under rubble, then looked at her best friend before also heading toward Stefan.
Poor Damon.
But pitiful people often brought it on themselves.
One simple truth—
Hawk hadn't killed Damon again. Not because he'd gone soft.
But because he knew that once Gwen learned what had happened to her cousin, the first thing she'd ask him to do was take Damon's head.
It was only a matter of time.
After all—
What Damon had done was disgusting.
Hawk decided to leave Damon alive for now—so his fiancée could use him to vent her anger later. Leading Caroline, he returned to the estate and reported to Gwen.
Caroline still looked shell-shocked.
Hawk walked over to Gwen.
"I'm going to take a shower."
"Okay."
Gwen smiled and nodded. "I left your toiletries out. They're in the blue bag. Use the half-empty bottle of shampoo first."
Hawk acknowledged her and pushed through the glass doors into the manor.
Gwen waited until Hawk disappeared before turning her attention to Caroline.
Caroline had finally processed everything. She looked at Hawk's retreating figure, then at her cousin, recalling how they'd traveled from the valley to the estate in the blink of an eye.
"Gwen, he..."
"We're not talking about Hawk. We're talking about you. How did you become a vampire?"
Gwen's brow furrowed as she cut Caroline off.
Caroline's expression turned bitter.
"Gwen, I don't—"
"If you won't tell me, I'll ask Hawk. Trust me, if I ask him, Hawk could pull out every single one of your memories from childhood to now and review them. Do you know what Hawk thinks of vampires?"
"No."
Gwen's face was expressionless. "Hawk said that forget about Original vampires—even if you gathered every vampire on Earth, in his eyes, they'd still be nothing."
"I didn't say 'nothing.' I said I wouldn't even look at them." Hawk's voice suddenly echoed from the second floor.
Gwen looked up.
"Be quiet and take your shower."
"Okay."
Hawk's voice disappeared.
Gwen's lips curved upward, understanding that Hawk's interruption and obedient response were his way of backing her up. She quickly hid her smile and turned back to Caroline with a serious expression. "So you can either tell me yourself, or I can have Hawk go out and drag every vampire in town back here so I can hear their version."
Caroline stared at her cousin, stunned by the casual threat of rounding up every vampire in Mystic Falls.
Gwen, seeing Caroline's lack of response, smiled faintly.
"HAW—"
"Don't!!"
Caroline snapped out of it, quickly stopping her cousin from summoning the demon king. "Gwen, I'll tell you."
Gwen stopped mid-word, looking at the now-panicked Caroline with a gentle smile. "Start from the beginning. And while you're at it, tell me about the vampires in town."
At that—
Gwen raised an eyebrow, as if remembering something, and looked at Caroline. "Oh, right. And that female vampire, Katherine Pierce. Tell me her story too."
Caroline opened her mouth, looking at Gwen. She thought about Hawk taking down both Stefan and Damon with single strikes. Her gaze flickered for a moment before she sighed.
"The story starts a few months ago..."
"..."
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