The Vampire Diaries: The Salvation: Unseen (14 page)

T
he flames burned fiercely, yellow and orange with a flash of cold azure at the base. Frowning with concentration, Bonnie refused to be pulled into their hypnotic patterns. She clutched her falcon charm tight in one hand and breathed deeply, calling upon the stone’s properties.

The charm Damon had given her was made of blue lace agate, which contained the properties of tranquility, and balance between mind, body, and spirit. This balance allowed Bonnie to access more Power than she’d ever dreamed of.

The falcon was cool in her palm, the sharp points of its beak and claws almost painful as she clutched it, yet somehow the little sharp pricks were reassuring. Bonnie could feel her own energy flowing into the stone and then circling back to her, calmer and steadier. After a few moments, she turned this Power outward to the flames, as easily as flipping a switch.

The flames flickered once and then went out.

Bonnie’s new friends burst into applause and came up to congratulate her. Poppy squeezed her shoulders in a side hug, while Rick thumped her enthusiastically on the back. Marilise, always more reticent, hung back, but the smile on her face was one of pure delight. Bonnie smiled back at her proudly.

“Bonnie, that was amazing!” Alysia was grinning so widely that her freckles flowed together in little islands of brown across her cheeks. “I can’t believe how far you’ve come in such a short time!”

Bonnie really couldn’t believe it either. Finding her working stone had been a big step. The fact that it had come from the necklace Damon had sent her for her birthday couldn’t be a coincidence. Sometimes he
knew
things about her; she was sure of it.

During the short time she had been with this group, she’d learned so much. Rick had turned out to know more about astrology and the influence of the stars and planets than anyone Bonnie had ever met. Marilise grew her own herbs at her cottage in North Carolina and had, in her gentle, quiet way, shown Bonnie helpful new ways of using them. And Poppy could see the future in crystal balls and cards—with more control than Bonnie had ever had over her own visions.

Tonight they, and all the other groups, had gotten a chance to demonstrate their new skills to everyone else.

Now Bonnie, full of gratitude, pulled Alysia into a spontaneous hug. “Thank you,” she said. “If you hadn’t talked me into coming here, I never could have done that. Every day, I can feel myself getting stronger and stronger.”

Alysia’s grin spread even wider, and she squeezed Bonnie back affectionately. “I’m glad you’re here. You’re making me look good.” She stuck out her tongue playfully at an older man on the other side of the room, and he threw back his head and laughed. There was a core group of five who had organized the retreat, and each was in charge of mentoring a group of recruits. Alysia had said there was a friendly rivalry among the core group as to whose protégés would learn the most.

Bonnie glanced around the massive apartment, which had seemed so frightening at first but was now almost cozy, full of magic. It took up three floors of the building, complete with balconies and a roof deck. It felt like an expensive, grown-up version of a college dorm, Bonnie thought, communal and built for temporary living rather than someone’s home.

“And now for the feast!” Alysia exclaimed, leading Bonnie to the dining room as the others followed. “It’s a celebration,” she explained. “So we threw together something special.”

A wall of windows covered one wall of the dining room, looking out over the car headlights tracing a river of light far below. Alysia had created one of her beautiful illusions—pale flower petals falling ceaselessly from the ceiling, disappearing before they hit the floor.

The long table in the center of the room was heaped with food: a hodgepodge of everyone’s favorites, from roast chicken to curry to peanut brittle to a bright pile of stir-fried vegetables. “Yum,” Bonnie said and took a seat. “It’s like a magic menu.”

“I wish,” Alysia said, rolling her eyes. “We were working on this all afternoon.”

Bonnie was reaching for a platter of pork chops when her phone rang.
Zander.
“Oh, I need to take this. I’ll be right back,” she said, excusing herself and slipping out of the dining room.

“Hey,” she answered, once she was alone back in the mosaic-floored living room where she had first met her team. “How’s it going? I miss you.”

“Sure you do.” Zander’s voice sounded rougher than usual, tired, but she could hear the smile in it. “That’s because I’m
awesome
.”

“Modest, too,” Bonnie told him. She wandered over to a window and looked out at the streets far below. “How are things there?” Zander didn’t say anything for a moment, and Bonnie tensed. “What’s going on?”

“I’m thinking,” Zander said. “How’s witch camp?”

“Witch camp is fantastic. Soon I will be the queen of all witches. Seriously, I’m getting really strong.” She wanted to go into more detail, tell Zander all the amazing things she was learning to do, but she didn’t like the way he had paused when she asked him what was going on back home. His voice wasn’t quite right—he sounded worried. She used her firmest tone. “What do you mean you’re
thinking
? Give me a straight answer. Is everything okay?”

Zander sighed. “The Old One—Solomon—is getting closer. He’s sent compelled humans after us. And he killed Elena’s cat. Last night, we thought we had him, but we just stumbled into a trap.” He paused. “He drew lighting and fire down around us.”

Bonnie stiffened, feeling the blood drain out of her cheeks. Fire was one thing that the Pack
couldn’t
fight. “I’m coming home,” she said.

“No.”

“You need me.” She was already crossing the living room, heading for the stairs that would lead to her bedroom. She could pack and be at the airport in an hour, catch the next flight to Richmond or Washington, D.C. … “You’ll pick me up at the airport, right?”

“Bonnie, stop,” Zander insisted. “Listen to me.”

“I have to be there!”

“We can handle it!” Zander said loudly, and Bonnie stopped in her tracks.

“If you’re in danger—”

“We’ve got the Pack,” Zander interrupted. “We’ve got hunters; we’ve got Stefan. We’ve got Elena, and she’s bringing her other Guardian friend out. Solomon’s tough, but there’s a whole superhero alliance here.”

Bonnie felt like her heart was being squeezed. “You don’t need me?” she said in a tiny voice.

“Of course we need you,” Zander said, his voice warm and reassuring. “
I
need you. Even when you’re not here, you’re helping protect us. We’re all using the charms and everything you left. But right now, you need to stay there, keep working on your own stuff. You’ll be stronger than ever when you come back, and then you’ll fix whatever we haven’t taken care of yet. Trust me and the Pack and the others for now, okay?”

Wavering, Bonnie closed her eyes for a moment. Her friends were in danger.

But it was true that she needed to be stronger if she was really going to be useful. The agate falcon rested cool against her collarbone—it never seemed to get warm—and she tried to take comfort in its calming properties.

“Trust us,” Zander said again. “We want you back, but not till you’re ready. Believe me, I miss you like crazy, but it’ll all be okay. We’ll hold down the fort.”

“Okay.” Bonnie bit her lip. “I’m going to learn everything that might help us, and then I’m on the first plane back.”

I hope I’m doing the right thing
, she thought.

S
tefan stared at the row of small white bottles on the drugstore shelf and looked at Elena’s list again.
Moisturizer
, he read. It seemed like that ought to be simple, but there were fifteen different brands lined up in front of him, divided into different categories:
revitalizing
, he read, and
tone correcting
, and
age defying
.

Age defying? Stefan shook his head. Elena was going to look eighteen forever; surely that wasn’t the one she wanted.

His phone buzzed, and he pulled it out of his pocket, hoping it wasn’t Elena with more additions to the shopping list.

Damon
, said the display.

A bubble of relief rose up in Stefan’s chest. He’d been positive that Damon was fine and would get back in touch when he was ready, and he’d been right. But it was nice to have it confirmed.

“Elena’s been worried about you,” Stefan said in greeting when he answered the phone.

“I guess the Guardians’ bond is still good, then. Nice to know they do quality work,” Damon answered. His voice sounded tired, rougher than Stefan was used to hearing it, and very far away.

“Damon?” Stefan asked, gripping the phone. “Are you okay? Where are you?”

There was a shifting, as if Damon was looking around. “Let’s see,” he said. “Casinos. Sunshine. Yachts. Monaco. Not for long, though, I’m afraid.”

“What’s going on?” Stefan asked, grabbing a bottle of moisturizer at random and tossing it into his basket. There was a long silence on the other end of the line, and he shifted the phone to his other ear. “Are you there?”

Damon sighed. “There’s something after Katherine and me,” he said, sounding a little embarrassed. “Wherever we go, packs of vampires come after us. I wanted to know if you had any idea who they are or what’s going on. They’re strong, and there are a lot of them. It’s nothing we can’t handle,” Damon added quickly. “But it’s getting tiresome.”

“That sounds strange,” Stefan began, worried, and then something Damon had said finally clicked. “Wait—you’re traveling with
Katherine
?” he asked sharply. “Is she hunting for you?”
Trust Damon to find a way around the rules the Guardians gave him
, he thought. And Katherine, of all people: After everything she’d done, how could Damon trust her?

“You think I’m cheating?” Damon asked, his voice flattening dangerously. “You should know better than anyone, I always keep my word.” There was a long pause, and Stefan kneaded the bridge of his nose between two fingers, feeling guilty. He always assumed the worst of Damon, but that wasn’t fair.

Damon sighed again, wearily. “I didn’t call to fight, little brother,” he said. “I just want to know if you have any idea what’s going on.”

“Right. Sorry. I don’t want to fight either. I know you’re not hunting,” Stefan apologized. It was true: Damon wouldn’t take an unwilling victim, not with Elena so linked to him that she’d be able to tell. “Well, I don’t know if this is related, but there’s another Old One here in town. Solomon. And he’s after Elena.”

“After Elena?” Damon’s voice got sharper, focused. A woman said something behind him—
Katherine
, Stefan realized—and he replied, his voice muffled, then came back on the line. “Is Elena in danger?”

“It’ll be okay. I’ve hunted a lot of Old Ones since you left. And you know how strong Elena is,” Stefan said. There was no point in making Damon worry; he couldn’t do anything more than the rest of them could. Which seemed to be nothing at this point. “Andrés just got here to help us track Solomon down.”

“And then bing, boom, you’ll take him out,” Damon said lightly. “Nice to know you’ve got things under control. I don’t see how this could be related, though. The vampires coming after us aren’t Old Ones. If anything, they feel … new.”

“New like newly made?” Stefan said. “You should be able to handle them easily, then.”

Damon laughed a short, dry laugh. “You’d think so,” he said. “No, it’s not that they feel newly made, exactly, they’re just …
different
, I suppose.”

“You’re not making a lot of sense, Damon,” Stefan told him. The drugstore was almost empty, but the elderly cashier was peering at him from the other end of the aisle, her eyebrows raised. Stefan turned away from her, hunching his shoulders. He needed to keep his voice down. That was the problem with small towns: Someone was always watching you.

“When you’ve dealt with your little problem there, why don’t you come out here?” Damon said. There was an artificial lightness to his voice as he added, “Come on, Stefan. It’ll be fun. A little gambling, a little sailing, a little vampire killing. When was the last time you were in Monaco?”

“I can’t,” Stefan said automatically. “I need to be here to protect Elena.”

There was another long pause, and Damon said, grimly, “I thought you said she was fine.”

“She is, but …” Stefan could hear his own voice rising in irritation, and he stopped himself. Damon was his brother, and he’d saved Stefan’s life more than once.

And he knew that, if Damon suspected how bad things were, he would come rushing back to fight on their side. He was better off out of it.

“I’m sorry,” Stefan said, his voice gentle. “Elena will be fine. And I know you and Katherine will survive. You always do.”

“I hope so,” Damon said. “But it sounds like you’ve made your choice, anyway.” The line went dead. Stefan stared down at the phone in his hand for a moment, wondering if he should call Damon back. The cashier down at the end of the store was still watching him. He tucked the phone back into his pocket.

Damon’s tone had been bitter at the end, and Stefan felt bad about it, he really did. His brother had called to ask him for help, something he rarely did, and Stefan had turned him down. Guilt ran sharp through his veins. He couldn’t worry about Damon, he reminded himself. Damon would be fine. It was Elena who mattered.