Ellora's Sun

Chapter Twenty-Three

"Why the fuck are you googling shit right now?" Christoph asked as he looked over his shoulder at the laptop. Stefan ignored him again, his attention turning to the laptop that had awoken. Luckily it had remembered the web page history, and the it was sitting open on the last viewed page.

It was a listing for the Kamýk Castle ruins just outside of the city. Stefan had been there before when he was younger, and knew it would take them a little over an hour to get there. He scribbled the address on a note as Adelaide had done before him, and slammed the laptop shut. He held the note up to Christoph to show that he had found the place, and couldn't help the edges of his lips twitching into a slight smile as he turned to leave.

He knew Adelaide would leave him a clue.

Stefan grabbed the kitchen phone as he moved towards his room. He held the phone to his ear with his shoulder, speaking to the operator in Czech. He ordered a taxi to his address as quick as possible, offering double the fare. He pulled on a pair of jeans and grabbed a coat as he hung up.

He considered teleporting there, but it only worked for places a witch had been to before. He knew that Lorenzo and Christoph had never been, so it would be up to Stefan to teleport the three of them there, which made it infinitely more difficult. Given that Stefan had only been there once, the chances that they teleported to a field somewhere with no sense of direction was highly likely. They were better off taking a car with a GPS.

Once in the living room, Stefan saw that Lorenzo and Christoph had gotten the memo and had changed themselves. Lorenzo looked eager and ready to fight, as he always was.

Christoph, who was always terrible at hiding his emotions, looked defeated and angry. He didn't offer any snarky remarks or argue with Stefan as they left the apartment and impatiently waited for the taxi. Once it had arrived, they all scurried inside, and Stefan gave the address and told the driver to hurry.

They rode in silence, the entire car full of anxious energy. Lorenzo was just itching for a fight, while Christoph was anxious they wouldn't make it in time. Stefan sat in the passenger seat, and kept his eyes forward on the road, his face blank as they drove. He knew his heart was beating faster, and his leg tapped slightly against the door, but he needed to stay calm. Adelaide needed their help, and panicking wasn't going to help her.

"Why would she leave without telling one of us?" Christoph finally spoke after half an hour of silence. Lorenzo and Stefan sighed softly at the broken silence.

"I'm sure they told her to come alone. If she had told you, would you have let her go alone?" Lorenzo offered, thinking through the situation rationally. Of course they wouldn't want Adelaide to show up with backup. If she was alone, they could manipulate her and threaten her however they wanted, with no one there to stop them. That's how Ellora operated - in the shadows and behind closed doors.

"No...probably not. But still, she should have told me." Christoph argued, leaning his arm on the window next to him as he pouted. Stefan couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"Not everything is about you, Christoph."

Stefan didn't turn around to look at Christoph as he spoke, but he could tell by the eery silence that followed that he had pissed him off. He glanced in the rear view mirror and saw Christoph glaring at the back of his head.

"Do you think I'm stupid, Stefan?" Christoph finally spoke, his face red with anger. Stefan shrugged his shoulders, not looking back. He was starting to recognize some of the surroundings, and he guessed they were nearing the castle ruins.

"Do you think I don't notice you trying to undermine me with her? Or the way you stare at her when she's not looking?" Christoph's voice was shaking slightly as he spoke, and when he didn't get a response from Stefan, he grew angrier and kept talking.