katherine has danced to this song before, the betrayal on the other’s face as they bargain the fact that katherine lied to them. that she led them astray, that it’s her fault they are in messes, that she’s the one who caused their ruination. she rolls her eyes to the sky, hearing the echoes of the salvatore brothers spilling from lana’s lips. the boys always damned her for manipulation, but it seems that they have also picked a few tricks from her. “i didn’t lie, lana, i just withheld some of the truth,” katherine counters, a brow arching, daring lana.. to do what? challenge katherine all the more? set off the fuse to the bomb that is the pierce way? then why did looking at lana make her heart stall, rather than immediately resort to her old habits?
did she truly care? there’s a tut of her tongue as she turns away, as if tired by the sight of lana. annoyance hums within her, carving out into the hollow places in her. “i don’t trust anyone, lana. i gave you enough truth to get the job done, that’s all you needed.” now that the salvatore brothers knew what katherine was up to, they would likely find the dagger and the emerald before her.. and the thought alone burns through her like a seething rage. a gnawing hatred that they had pulled one over her. “i saved you from a vampire, and this is how you repay me?” katherine asks, repeating the same sentiment of her earlier question as she finally levels a gaze with lana, though this time, her usually light almond hues turn into bitter-black coffee. “guess i don’t need you anymore.” but oh… how she did.
❛❛ yeah, that sounds like the same bunch of crap to me. ❜❜ she retorts, confidently, yes, but not happily — a part deep inside of herself hoped that maybe they could work it out, that katherine would see eye to eye with her on her faults, and would be willing to comply in both of them establishing the rules of conduct in their partnership, and not just expect lana to follow along to whatever she unspokenly dictated. for someone so presumably wise and smart, lana couldn’t understand how she couldn’t see that to be a recipe for disaster. then again, maybe that was exactly what she was accostumed to, wreaking havoc and moving on from the wreckage to the next pawn in her never-ending chess game — except, there weren’t all that many magic-blade-wielding, solution-to-all pawns lying around available for her to come dominate, were there? maybe, that was lana’s in. to not be expendable in katherine’s game.
❛❛ you don’t get to decide what i need and don’t need, and i’ll say it again, i can’t go out on the battlefield with someone whose motivations and identity i have doubts about, or we might both get killed. as for the night we met, i didn’t ask for you to help me — you were there, and it was convenient for you to swoop in and gain some credibility points as the kind, special snowflake of an orphan, so you did, but don’t act like i owe you for it, ‘cause i’ve killed a lot of vampires in my life, and trust me, he wouldn’t have been the exception to that rule — in fact, you’re the only one sitting on that throne, along with your sibling ex-boyfriends. now, if that’s really how you feel, like you don’t need me anymore, then have a nice life, or witchunt, or whatever it is you’re searching for, but something tells me you can’t afford to turn on your heels and walk away that easily, can you? ❜❜