Whatever It Takes {Two | Alaric Saltzman}

I Like It Here, It's Got a Rich History

"Still can't believe I'm standing here with Abigail Gilbert."

It had been three weeks since she had seen the man standing in front of her. Two since what of her siren research that could be shared with the world had been published. And one since she and her family had moved into the Armory.

"Once a Gilbert, always a Gilbert." She stood up a little taller, adjusting her posture the same way she did when she came across anyone from her past. "But it's Saltzman now."

"Right." Peter nodded. "You were just a toddler when I left. Now look at you. A wife, a mother-"

"Professor, researcher, the list goes on." Nothing changed about her voice, nothing at all. "Which begs the question: why is your family connected to this?"

"You're a lot more like your dad than you seem." She didn't think he could tell that what he said affected her, but neither did her dad when she'd have to push him along at Founders' events. "Look, all she said is that I have something she needs."

She passed a folder to him. "Well, fill out these forms and then Brody will lead you to my office where we can discuss this further."

Her office door opened and closed without a knock. There were a handful of people it could've been, the last person on the list the one she saw when she faced them. She was not surprised to see him, but he was surprised to see her.

She smiled carefully. "Matt, hey!"

"Hey!" He gave her a hug. "I thought you said you wouldn't be here today."

"Oh, I won't be for long. Founders' Day is just around the corner! I'm still a member of the Mystic Falls Historical Society and I've been asked to judge at the Miss Mystic Falls Pageant, so I am going to the school for about as many meetings as years Mystic Falls has been a town." She tucked a spiral into her tote bag. "Caroline was supposed to meet me for lunch for old times sake, but she's not going to be able to because she's pulling together all these special reports for the big ramp-up to Founders' Day. Bonnie's in Paris, you're going to be here, Alaric is going to be on campus, and it's the girls' first week of school, I don't think it's a good idea for me to pull them out early quite yet, so I guess I'll be eating alone."

"I'll tell you what," he said. "If you sneak into Coach Lyman's office and write something really rude in his playbook, drinks are on me tonight at the Grill."

"Impolite or really disgusting?"

"Dealer's choice."

"You're on." She laughed. "Dorian should be here in about an hour. We told him what really happened to Georgie. Everything else, too. We wanted to give him a fair warning about who, or what, he would be fighting against if he stayed."

"Another member of the circle of trust."

"Seline murdered his friend, he, in his words, intends to get payback." She walked to the table, leading him to follow. "And since our only weapon is currently traveling through Paris..."

"You mean the tuning fork?" Matt asked.

Abigail tilted her head to the side. "Actually, it's called the Staff of Arcadius. Cade's enemies forged it in the fire that killed him."

"If you say so."

"Harvey said so," she said. "Georgie had his journal in her car. We've been studying it. Seems he was friends with the sirens in 1790. They lured him into the tunnels, and he starved to death down there."

"Harvey?"

"The skeleton we found in the vault. We got his DNA results back yesterday. That's why you're here." The carefulness of her smile came back in through her words. "He was related to a family from Mystic Falls."