Destiny Rising Page 7

  “Listen, Shay, I really need to get some rest,” he said quickly. “We’ll catch up later, okay? Call me or one of the other guys and we’ll get together.” Bonnie had a brief impression of Shay looking startled, and then Zander hurried Shay right out of the room and shut the door behind her.

  “So . . . friend from back home?” Bonnie asked after a moment. “I don’t think you’ve mentioned her before.”

  “Um,” Zander said. His gorgeous long lashes brushed his cheeks as he looked down, away from Bonnie, and she might have been distracted by how sweet that made him look. Except that Zander also looked distinctly guilty.

  Bonnie suddenly felt her stomach sink. “Is there something you’re not telling me?” she asked. Zander shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other, his cheeks flushing, and Bonnie’s stomach plummeted even further. “No more secrets, remember?”

  Zander sighed. “I just think this is going to sound like a bigger deal than it is,” he said.

  “Zander,” Bonnie said.

  “The High Wolf Council wanted Shay and me to be together,” Zander confessed. He glanced up at her tentatively through his lashes. “They, um, I guess thought we’d be like mates? Get married, maybe, and have werewolf children together when we finished school. They thought we’d make a good team.”

  Bonnie blinked. Her brain felt numb, she realized. Zander and Shay had thought about getting married?

  “But we couldn’t get along,” Zander said hurriedly. “I swear, Bonnie, we just never clicked. We fought, like, all the time. So we broke up.”

  “Uh,” Bonnie said. She was so blindsided by this, it felt like a huge effort to even put words together. “So the High Wolf Council controls who you marry?” she asked finally, picking the most general of the questions swarming her mind.

  “They try,” Zander said, looking at her anxiously. “They can’t . . . they can’t make me do anything I don’t want to do. And they wouldn’t want to. They’re fair.” His sky-blue eyes, that heavenly tropical blue, caught hers, and he smiled tentatively, his hands warm on her shoulders. “You’re the one I love, Bonnie,” he said. “Believe me.”

  “I do believe you,” Bonnie said, because she did; it was shining out of Zander’s eyes. And she loved him, too. Zander flinched a little as she hugged him, and Bonnie loosened her arms, mindful of his bruises. “It’s okay,” she said softly.

  But even as she turned her face up to Zander’s kiss, Bonnie couldn’t help the word that resounded in her mind, making her twitch with anxiety.

  Uh-oh.

  Stefan and Elena curled together on his bed, her head on his shoulder. Stefan let himself relax under her touch, feeling the softness of her hair against his cheek. It had been a seemingly endless day. But Elena was safe, for now. Just for this moment, she was in Stefan’s arms and nothing would hurt her. He tightened his hold on her.

  “Is Chloe going to be all right?” Elena asked.

  Stefan bit back an incredulous little laugh and the corners of Elena’s lips turned up in response. “What?” she said.

  “You’re worried about Chloe,” Stefan said. “Klaus has promised to kill you, and you want to hear if Chloe, who you barely knew when she was human, is going to be all right.” He should have known, though. Elena had a core of steel running through her. And nothing was more important to her than protecting her friends, her town, the world.

  Maybe, Stefan thought, she’s always been a Guardian.

  “I haven’t stopped thinking about what Klaus said,” Elena told him, and Stefan felt her body shudder against his. “I’m afraid. But I can’t stop caring about everyone else, either. Matt needs Chloe, so she matters to me, too. I worry that there might not be a lot of time left. We should all be with the people we love.” She kissed Stefan, just a light brush of her lips on his. When she spoke again, her voice trembled. “We just found each other again, Stefan. I don’t want to miss anything. All I want to do is hold on to you.”

  Stefan kissed her, more deeply this time. I love you, he told her silently. I will protect you with my life.

  Elena broke the kiss and smiled at him, her eyes full of tears. “I know,” she said. “I love you, too, Stefan, so much.” She pulled her hair back and tilted her head invitingly, exposing her long slender throat. Stefan hesitated—it had been so long, not since before they broke up and came back together—but she drew his mouth down to her throat.

  The rush of Elena’s blood—so intoxicating, so full of vitality that it was like champagne and sweet nectar at the same time—made Stefan light-headed, flooding him with warmth. There were no barriers between them, no walls, and he felt a great wonder at the steadfast tenderness that he found in Elena.

  They fell asleep wrapped around each other. Darkness threatened them on all sides, but for this night, they would be together, be each other’s light.

  Chapter 10

  “A headless body found in the woods near Dalcrest College last week has now been identified as Dalcrest senior Ethan Crane,” announced the pretty newscaster on the TV morning show, her forehead crinkling seriously. “Police have not yet released a statement on whether Crane was the victim of a murder or a freak accident, but judging from the difference in wounds, Crane’s death appears unrelated to the most recent animal attacks in the woods.”

  As the newscaster went on to another story, Meredith flipped off the TV, hissing in irritation.

  “They must think everyone who watches the news is a moron,” she muttered. “How could someone lose their head in a freak accident in the woods?”

  Even though the student lounge was empty except for the five of them—Elena, Bonnie, Meredith, Stefan, and Zander—Elena lowered her voice and glanced around before answering. “They don’t want people to panic any more than they are already.”

  The empty lounge was a sign of how frightened everyone already was, Elena thought. The first couple of weeks of school, the lounge had been packed in the evenings, guys and girls hanging out to watch TV or flirt or even study.

  Now, though, everyone was wary, sticking to their rooms in case one of the friendly faces on campus was masking a killer. Elena was constantly on edge, too. She and her friends checked and rechecked their weapons, tried to anticipate what Klaus might do. And yet he’d done nothing, as far as they could tell.

  “My psychology class was canceled this week,” Bonnie told the others. “And there’s hardly anyone left in my English section. A lot of people have left.” She hesitated, her wide brown eyes flicking between Elena and Zander. “My father wants me to come home and see if we can get the tuition refunded. He says I could come back next year if they get to the bottom of all the attacks and disappearances,” she confessed.

  “You’re not going home, are you?” Elena asked her. Bonnie’s dad had always been superprotective of Bonnie and her older sisters, so Elena wasn’t surprised by this news.

  “Of course I’m not going,” Bonnie said stoutly. “You guys need me here.” She snuggled closer to Zander and tipped her head back against his chest to smile up at him. He smiled back, wide and warmly, and Elena found herself smiling, too. Zander was such a guy’s guy, not really Elena’s type at all, but it was wonderful to see Bonnie with someone who liked her so much that pure contentment just shone out of him whenever they were together.

  Stefan cleared his throat to get their attention. “I don’t know where Klaus is feeding, but I don’t think the bodies that have been found in the woods are people he killed. The news reports are saying they look like animal attacks, and, uh”—he looked down at his feet, his face slightly embarrassed—“I compelled a police officer to find out what the police have seen. The kills are really sloppy; they look like an animal actually is attacking people, so it’s not just a cover story as far as the police are concerned.”

  “So you think it’s the new vampires who are killing people, not one as experienced as Klaus,” Elena said. Stefan met her eyes and she knew he was thinking the same thing she was: not Damon, either. A great wave
of relief broke over her.

  If Damon crossed that line, if he started killing again, she didn’t know what they would do. She couldn’t imagine that they’d betray him, turn him over to the others, or hunt him down. So much had changed between Stefan and Damon. Elena knew Stefan would protect his brother now, choose him over anyone else except perhaps Elena herself.

  But it hadn’t come to that yet. It never would, Elena told herself fiercely. Damon might have lost control once, but no lasting harm had been done. The girl was fine. And it was the new vampires, the ones Ethan had turned, who were killing.

  Meredith was watching her, her gray eyes sympathetic. “People are still dying, even if the killer is not Klaus,” she said gently. With a start, Elena realized that she’d given away her relief that it wasn’t Damon. Luckily, Meredith had misinterpreted Elena’s reaction. “We can’t guess what game Klaus is playing or what his plans are until he reveals himself,” Meredith went on. A lock of dark hair fell over her cheek and she tucked it back behind her ear. “But we can target the Vitale vampires. Gassing the tunnels didn’t work, and we can’t make more gas unless we can get a lot more vervain than we have now. We should be patrolling regularly to keep the students safer.”

  She dug into her backpack and pulled out a campus map, carefully annotated in red ink, and traced an area on the map with one finger. “I’ve marked their hunting grounds here, and I think we can focus our patrols on the woods and on the playing fields on the edge of campus. We need to organize and make sure we’ve got nightly patrols that have enough strong fighters in them to take down a group of young vampires.”

  “What about during the day?” Bonnie asked, frowning and reaching for the map. “They’ve all got lapis lazuli, don’t they? So they could be out hunting anytime.”

  Stefan stirred restlessly next to Elena on the couch. “Even though the sunlight doesn’t kill them, they’ll be laying low during the day,” he explained. “Sunlight bothers vampires even with the lapis lazuli. Night is a vampire’s natural habitat, and they won’t leave it unless they’re forced to.”

  Elena looked at him in surprise, but said nothing. Stefan lived in the day with her, slept at night. Did it hurt him, too? Had he changed so much, just to be with Elena?

  “So nighttime patrols ought to be enough, at least for now,” Meredith said.

  Zander examined the map closely, his white-blond head close to Bonnie’s red one. “I can organize the guys to take some of the patrols,” he offered. Stefan nodded to Zander in acknowledgment. Meredith turned to Elena, her gray eyes sharp. “What about Damon?” she asked. “We could really use him.”

  Elena hesitated. Beside her, Stefan cleared his throat. “My brother isn’t available right now,” he said, his voice expressionless. “But I’ll let you know if anything changes.”

  Meredith’s lips tightened. Elena could imagine what was going through her friend’s head: Damon, irritating but always there, had finally, over the past summer and fall, proven himself as a worthwhile ally, only to disappear when the campus was falling into chaos around them?

  If that was what Meredith was thinking, she didn’t say anything, just narrowed her eyes and let out a long sigh, then asked, “What about you, Bonnie? Are there any spells that will help the patrols?”

  “There are a few protection spells I already know that could be useful,” Bonnie said thoughtfully. “I’m going to call Mrs. Flowers and see what else she recommends.”

  Elena smiled across at her friend. With the discovery of her talent for witchcraft, Bonnie had found a new confidence. Bonnie looked up and caught her eye, then smiled back.

  “We’ll beat them, won’t we, Elena?” she said softly. “And Klaus, too, when he shows up again.”

  “We did before, after all,” Elena said lightly. Bonnie’s expression sobered, and Meredith picked up the map again, turning it over thoughtfully in her hands. Next to Elena, Stefan reached to take her hand in his. They all knew just what it had taken to beat Klaus the first time they had faced him: Damon and Stefan united, and an army of the dead of Fell’s Church, rising up from the land where they had fallen in battle. Not something they could duplicate. And even then, they had barely survived.

  “We’re stronger now,” Bonnie said uncertainly. “Right?”

  Elena forced herself to smile. “Of course we are,” she said. Meredith’s hand took hold of Elena’s, and Elena felt comforted and strengthened by Stefan, her love, on one side, and Meredith, her friend, on the other. Bonnie raised her head proudly, her small face defiant, and Zander straightened beside her.

  “We’re invincible when we’re together,” Elena told them, and looking around at their resolute faces, she almost believed it.

  Chapter 11

  Elena was pulling on her sturdiest boots—perfect for a night of tromping through the woods—when her phone rang.

  “Hello?” she said, glancing at the clock. In less than five minutes, she was supposed to be meeting Stefan and three of Zander’s Packmates to patrol the campus. She tucked the phone between her ear and her shoulder and hurriedly finished lacing up the boots.

  “Elena.” James’s voice came through the phone, sounding exuberant. “I have good news. Andrés has arrived.”

  Elena stiffened, her fingers fumbling on her bootlaces. “Oh,” she said faintly. The human Guardian was here at Dalcrest? She swallowed and spoke more firmly. “Does he want to meet with me right now?” she asked. “I’m on my way somewhere, but I could . . .”

  “No, no,” James broke in. “He’s exhausted. But if you come here around nine tomorrow morning, he’d be delighted to talk to you.” He dropped his voice, as if not wanting to be overheard. “Andrés is extraordinary, Elena,” he said happily. “I can’t wait for you two to meet.”

  Pulling her hair back into a tight, businesslike ponytail, Elena thanked James and got off the phone as quickly as she could. Extraordinary, she thought apprehensively. That could mean a lot of different things. The Celestial Guardians she had met had been extraordinary, and they had taken away her parents and Power, crippling her. Still, James clearly thought Andrés was good.

  She tried to push her thoughts about the Earthly Guardian away as she jogged across campus to join the others. There was no point in worrying about him now; she’d meet him soon enough.

  Stefan and the werewolves were waiting for her on the outskirts of the woods. Tristan and Spencer had already changed into their wolf forms and were restlessly sniffing the air, ears cocked for any sound of trouble. Shaggy-haired Jared, in human form, stood with Stefan, his hands stuffed into his pockets.

  “There you are,” Stefan said as Elena came up to them, and pulled her close to him in a brief embrace. “Ready?”

  They set off into the woods, Tristan and Spencer pacing on each side of them, their heads and tails up, and their eyes alert. There had been too many attacks on and near the campus, and Elena knew the Pack felt that they were failing in their responsibility to keep the Dalcrest students safe. She and her friends felt the same way: they were the only ones who really knew what supernatural horrors were out there, and so were the only ones who could keep other people safe.

  Bonnie, Meredith, Zander, and two more of his Packmates were patrolling the playing fields, trying to keep another section of the campus safe. Elena would have liked to have Matt’s quiet, stubborn strength beside her, but he was still sequestered away with Chloe. Stefan had been checking on them daily, and said Chloe was making progress, but that she was still not ready to be near anyone else.

  It was a clear, starry night, and everything seemed peaceful so far.

  “Sorry I was late,” Elena told Stefan, linking her arm through his. “James called just as I was leaving. He said Andrés is here. I’m going to meet him tomorrow.”

  Stefan opened his mouth to say something when the wolves stopped, their ears cocked, and stared into the distance. Stefan’s head swung up, too. “Check it out,” he told them, and Spencer and Tristan were gone, racing into the
forest. Stefan and Jared stood still, alertly tracking their progress, until a howl came in the distance.

  “False alarm,” Jared translated, and Stefan relaxed. “An old scent.”

  The two wolves came trotting back through the woods, their tails arched high over their backs. Despite being very different as humans, Tristan and Spencer made similar wolves, sleek and gray and not as large as Zander was in wolf form. Only the black tips of Spencer’s ears made it possible to tell them apart.

  Watching them come back, Jared hunched his shoulders and shoved his long bangs out of his eyes. “I need to learn to change without the moon,” he said irritably. “I feel blind trying to scout as a human.”

  “How does that work, anyway?” Elena asked curiously. “Why can some of you change without the moon, but not all of you?”

  “Practice,” Jared said glumly, letting his hair flop back over his face. “It’s hard, and it takes a long time to learn, and I haven’t managed to do it yet. We can learn how to stop ourselves from changing when the moon’s full, too, but that’s even harder, and they say it hurts. Nobody does that unless it’s really necessary.”

  Spencer sniffed the breeze again and gave a short bark. Jared laughed, not bothering to translate. Stefan turned to follow their gaze, and Elena wondered what Stefan and the wolves—even Jared—could sense in the night that she couldn’t. She was the only true human here, she realized, and so the blindest of them all.

  “Do you want me to come with you?” Stefan asked as they started walking again. “To meet Andrés?”

  Elena shook her head. “Thanks, but I think I should do this by myself.” If she was going to become something new, she had to be strong enough to face it alone.

  They patrolled the woods throughout the night without finding any vampires or any bodies. As dawn began to break over the horizon, Elena could see the two wolves plodding along next to her in the dim light, their heads hanging low. She was so sleepy, she held on to Stefan’s arm for support and just focused on moving one foot in front of the other. Then Spencer’s and Tristan’s heads snapped up and they began to run, lean muscles stretching under their gray fur.