Destiny Rising (The Vampire Diaries 10)

"Alaric, pull over," Meredith said sharply. Alaric pulled the car onto the side of the road, and Meredith quickly rummaged through the glove compartment. Thank goodness Alaric carried paper and pens in the car.

"What is it?" Zander asked, alarmed. Pressed against him, Bonnie shook her head hard, her curls spreading across his chest, and murmured small noises of distress.

"She's not just dreaming, she's having a vision," Meredith told him. "Bonnie," she said, keeping her voice low and soothing, "Bonnie, what's happening?"

Bonnie moaned and thrashed, her body arching away from Zander. Eyes widening, Zander grabbed at her, trying to hold her still.

"Bonnie," Meredith said again. "It's okay. Tell me what you're seeing. "

Bonnie sucked in a breath, and then her wide brown eyes flew open and she began to scream. Alaric jerked in surprise, banging his elbow on the steering wheel.

The scream went on and on, filling the car with noise.

"Bonnie, stop it!" Zander was pulling Bonnie to his chest, trying to calm her and to keep her from falling off the seat as she struggled.

Finally, she grew still, and the screams died off into whimpers. Then she looked around at the others. "What's going on?" she said thickly.

"You were having a vision, Bonnie," Meredith said. "Everything's okay. "

Bonnie shook her head. "No," she whispered, her voice cracked and strained from screaming. "It wasn't a vision. "

"What do you mean?" Alaric asked.

"It was a dream. " Bonnie was visibly calmer, and Zander gingerly released her from the tight hold he had on her arms and took her hand instead.

"Just a dream?" Meredith said doubtfully.

Bonnie shook her head again, slowly. "Not exactly," she said. "Do you remember the dreams I had when Klaus was holding Elena prisoner? After . . . " She hesitated. "After Elena died. The dreams she sent me? That Klaus invaded? I think Klaus was sending me this dream. "

Meredith exchanged a look with Alaric. "If he can get inside her mind like this, how are we going to protect her?" she asked quietly, and he shook his head.

"What happened in the dream?" Zander asked, stroking Bonnie's arm.

"It was . . . it was like a military camp or something," Bonnie said, frowning, clearly trying to remember. "There were trees everywhere. Klaus had a whole group of people around him. He was standing in front of them, telling them how strong they were and that they were ready. "

"Ready for what?" Meredith asked quickly.

Bonnie grimaced. "He didn't say exactly, but nothing good, I'm sure," she said. "I couldn't see how many people there were or make out what they looked like exactly. But it seemed like there were a lot of them. It was all sort of clouded and vague, but I could see Klaus as clearly as anything. "

"He's gathering an army," Meredith said, her heart sinking. They had no ash tree, no weapon against Klaus. And he wasn't alone.

"There's more," Bonnie said. She hunched her shoulders, curling into herself protectively, pressing closer to Zander. She looked miserable and frightened, her face sickly white and her eyes rimmed with red. "After he finished his speech, he looked right at me, and I knew he'd brought me there. He reached out like he was going to take my hand and just brushed it with his fingers. " She reached her own hand out in front of her and stared at it, her lips trembling. "His hand was so cold. And he said, 'I'm coming, little one. I'm coming for you. '"

Chapter 18

Stefan pushed Elena behind him as he launched himself at a vampire, ripping into its throat with his elongated fangs. Beside him, Spencer, in wolf form, cannoned into another of the Vitale vampires and knocked her sprawling, only to be thrown violently into a row of bookshelves as the vampire regained her footing. The shelves wobbled and collapsed on top of the werewolf, blocking him from Elena's sight.

Elena gripped the stake in her hand firmly and gritted her teeth. She could sense evil all around her, pulling her to hurry, to do something about it. She didn't have the supernatural strength of Stefan or the werewolf, or of the vampires they were fighting against, but if she was quick and lucky, maybe she could take one or two of them out.

They hadn't really expected to find any vampires in the library at all. If they had, they would have been better prepared, weapons in hand, and would have brought more members of the Pack with them. They had been doing a quick after-hours sweep of the library, making sure the Vitale Society's meeting room was still chained up. And here, just a floor above the entrance to that room, they'd found what must be - Elena glanced around, calculating - all the remaining vampires of the Vitale Society, except for Chloe, still safely hidden with Matt.

Eight vampires. Until now, they'd been tracking down one vampire at a time, finding them alone midhunt. They'd had no idea the vampires were still allied, because it seemed like they had scattered. If they had known they were still working together, Elena and the others would have been more careful, or somehow managed to track them more closely.

Spencer was up again now, and snarling as he tore at the side of one of the vampires, who struggled frantically against him. Stefan was stronger than these younger vampires, and two bodies already lay at his feet, but they were still outnumbered. Two grabbed Stefan by the arm and swung him around so that another could pin him by the shoulder, stake held high.

"No!" Elena shouted, panic ripping through her. She charged toward the vampires holding Stefan, but a hand clamped down on her shoulder, and she turned to see a tall, dark-haired guy she was pretty sure had been in her chemistry class, back at the beginning of the year.

"No interfering, now," he said mockingly. "I think we can keep each other company. " Elena struggled, but she couldn't move her arm, and he fisted his other hand in her hair, pulling her head back slowly to expose her neck.