Unstoppable | The Vampire Diaries

27. War of the Wolves

Stefan hesitated, then sighed. "Well, you should probably know: John Gilbert's back in town."

"What?" Riley and Damon asked in unison.

"I went to find Isobel and got John instead. What else was I gonna do, we're desperate," Stefan reminded them, shrugging.

"We're not that desperate!" Riley said, remembering her last encounter with Elena's uncle/biological father, when he'd succeeded in killing most of the vampires in town.

"The guy tried to barbeque me!" Damon said, also remembering that day.

"I had no choice!" Stefan barked angrily. "Elena is putting all of her faith into some deal that she made with Elijah to keep everyone safe. I mean, do you trust Elijah? I don't trust him. He's an Original, he can't be trusted. And it's not like we can just go up and kill him because apparently he can't die! John says he can keep Elena safe."

"You know what, I trust Elijah a hell of a lot more than I trust John," Riley said truthfully. "At least with him, he'll keep us safe. John won't care if any of us die in the process of keeping Elena safe."

"For all we know, Elijah's lying to make sure that Elena doesn't run. I can't take that risk," Stefan said. He didn't care if he ended up dead, as long as Elena got to live.

"I'm still waiting for the part where John Gilbert is the answer," Damon challenged. He didn't trust John or Elijah – he wanted to protect Elena himself.

Stefan rolled his eyes. "When you have a better plan, let me know."

Damon pushed past his brother and walked up the stairs in silence.

"I'm gonna go sleep in one of the thousand bedrooms of this place," Riley said to Stefan, dragging a hand through her slept-on, knotted hair. "I've been sharing a bed with Caroline for the past two days."

"Is everything OK at home?" Stefan asked, genuinely concerned when he saw the tiredness in her face.

"No," she said. "But we have much bigger things to deal with than my parent's marital problems."

In an effort not to pry, Stefan said nothing, instead shooting her a sympathetic look that she tried not to see.

***

The last place she expected to be that day was outside the Lockwood Mansion. But according to Sheriff Forbes, Caroline was here, sorting out a problem with Tyler.

She was about to knock on the door, when it opened, taking her by surprise. Tyler and Stefan were standing on the other side.

"Hey," she said, regarding Tyler warily due to his new werewolf status. "Is Caroline here? I need to talk to her about this whole John Gilbert thing."

"Jules has her," Stefan said quickly.

"The werewolf?" she asked, casting an accusatory glance at Tyler. "What do you mean she 'has her'?"

"I'm working on it," he added, clearly stressed.

"I'm coming," Riley said determinedly.

Stefan left the house, brushing past her. "You're not coming," he said. Tyler followed him. "Damon's meeting me there."

Riley gritted her teeth. "The number one thing we learned from the 'Rose' situation was that a bite from a werewolf can kill a vampire. You don't know how many you're facing. You guys are gonna get yourselves, and Caroline, killed."

She wasn't telling Stefan anything that he wasn't already worried about. But he had to save Caroline.

"Stay here," Stefan said to Riley sternly. "Caroline will be fine."

She didn't believe him, but against her better judgement, she let them go. It's not like there was anything she could do anyway.

Or was there?

"Bonnie, is it true that you know Elijah's witches?" she confirmed the rumor she'd heard from Elena, without waiting for a greeting from the witch. "I need a huge favor."

***

She knocked on the door. This was probably the worst idea she'd ever had, but hopefully, it would keep Damon, Stefan and Caroline alive.

"Riley?" Elijah asked, her appearance at the apartment startling him.

"Can I come in?" she asked quickly. He stood aside immediately, allowing her to make her way into the small apartment where his witches Jonas and Luka Martin were living. "I need to know if your promise to Elena was truthful."

He nodded. "I'm a man of my word."

She quickly checked her phone for any sign that she didn't have to ask him to do this. There was nothing.

"Stefan and Damon Salvatore are rescuing Caroline Forbes, and they're all about to get attacked by werewolves. I need you to save their lives."

Elijah glanced at her, amused. "You're human," he said. "Why are you so worried about vampires?"

"Apart from Elena, my best friends are all supernatural, including them. Will you help?"

He kept looking at her, trying to figure her out. Then he used his phone to call Jonas Martin. When he was satisfied that the witch would be able to save them, he hung up.

"Thank you," Riley said, breathing a bit easier. She was right to go with her instincts – Elijah was much more trustworthy than John. "I should go."

She walked towards the door, before turning back to him with a question that had been on her mind since she'd met him.

"What did Klaus do to you?"

"Excuse me?" he asked.

"You're an Original. And you're dedicating your time to making sure that a group of teenage vampires, witches and humans don't die, all because you want to kill Klaus. What did he do?"

Elijah took a step towards her. "I'm an Original vampire. You came here as a human, on your own, to ask me for a favor. You're not scared of me. Why?"

She shrugged. "After discovering that vampires, witches, and now werewolves, exist, I can't keep being terrified of the things that go 'bump' in the night. Plus, I choose to trust people."

Elijah smiled, more to himself than at her. "That'll get you killed," he warned her gently.

"Maybe," Riley agreed with a shrug. "But I don't want to live my life constantly looking over my shoulder. I don't want to make enemies everywhere I go. I want to see the good in people. I guess that makes me naïve?" she asked. There was still a small smile on Elijah's face.

"It makes you human."

She returned his smile.

"Anyway, I should go," she said again. "My best friend got kidnapped by a werewolf today and I'm pretty sure she's in need of a slumber party."

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Next chapter we find out more about Elijah and his witches. But are they friends, or enemies?

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