Unstoppable | The Vampire Diaries

127. The Devil's Advocate

It was then that Riley opened her eyes. Of course, wherever she was being kept was so dark that she couldn't even tell her eyes were open. All she knew was that there was tape on her mouth and her hands were tied together.

She kicked her feet out, and found that it made the satisfying noise of banging on something metal. So she kicked again, and again, harder and harder. She couldn't tell if anything was happening, but she kept going, just in case.

Eventually, the area around her was lit up with daylight, and she realized that she was lying inside the trunk of a car. Seline smiled down at her, grabbing her and pulling her out of the car, despite Riley's attempts to fight her off.

"Stop!" Seline told her. "Calm down, okay? Does it look like I want to hurt you?" Reluctantly, Riley allowed her flight-or-flight reflexes to die down. "Now, I'm gonna take the tape off your mouth. If you scream, or try to fight me again, something awful is gonna happen to your nieces. Understand?"

Riley said and did nothing, and Seline harshly ripped the tape from her mouth. She didn't allow her eyes to meet Damon's, so she missed the subtle look of pain and worry on his face, even though it was gone in an instant.

"I thought you were my friend?" she asked the Siren, who shrugged.

"It was fun while it lasted," Seline smiled. "You taught me so much about the modern world, you really helped me blend in."

Riley nodded. "Yeah, that's right. I helped you. I was there for you when you needed someone. You spent countless nights eating spaghetti on my couch, cooking in my kitchen, sleeping in my guest bedroom. I trusted you more than I trusted..." she trailed off for a second. "A lot of people in my life. For the year and a half that we were friends, you were one of the most important people in my life, Seline. How could you do this to me?"

Seline frowned. "Don't take it so personally, Riley. This isn't my fault."

"Screw you," Riley spat angrily. "You pretended to be my friend and then you put me and my family in danger."

Seline put her hand on the birthmark on Riley's chest. "You were already in danger. You were in danger from the second you were born... you just didn't know it."

***

They were all standing by the pool. Seline had one of the girls' hands in each of hers. Riley and Damon were standing beside each other.

"I'm gonna make a deal with Cade," he said under his breath, so quietly that the Sirens couldn't hear – though Sybil already knew exactly what his plan was. She was still firmly in his head, and he knew it.

"Why would you do that?" Riley asked, also under her breath. "You obviously don't care about anything or anyone anymore."

He wasn't looking at her, but he raised an eyebrow. "You must have missed the part where I'm being mind-controlled by Sybil."

"Sybil was in Enzo's head too," she reminded him. "He went through everything you went through, he turned off his humanity. But he fought her, and he won."

Damon scoffed quietly. "He 'won' because Sybil knew that his loyalties were never with her. He was hard work, and she couldn't be bothered to deal with him. But me... I'm loyal."

"Clearly," Riley said, almost sarcastically. "So tell me, if you're loyal to Sybil, why are you even making a deal with Cade in the first place?"

Damon shrugged. "Because I have something better to offer him than a couple of three year old siphons. Something that he won't be able to say no to."

With that, he left the room, and Riley stopped herself from watching him go. She knew that he wasn't the Damon she loved, he couldn't be that person when the Siren was in his mind. But a part of her was worried that he would never be that person again.