Destiny Rising (The Vampire Diaries 10)

What was left of the trunk of the tree crashed to the ground, sending up more sparks and thick black smoke, and Meredith felt Caroline start at the sound. Slowly, Meredith released her grip on Caroline, pulling the stave away from her throat so she could look Caroline in the eye. Caroline took a deep, sobbing breath and turned to face Meredith fully. Her cat-shaped green eyes were wide with terror.

Meredith glared at her. "How could you help him, Caroline?" she asked fiercely. "Don't you remember how Klaus kidnapped you?"

Caroline shook her head. "You're crazy," she said, and Meredith was amazed that bedraggled, tearful Caroline could still sound so disdainful. "I'm not helping anyone. "

"So you just decided to burn down a tree today?" Meredith asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I . . . guess," Caroline said, frowning. She crossed her arms defensively across her chest. "I think it was an accident. "

There was something wrong here, Meredith realized. Caroline didn't look guilty or defiant. Freaked out, absolutely,

but it seemed like she was being honest. Meredith sighed. It would be nice to get her hands on someone responsible for the destruction of their only weapon, but she was beginning to suspect Caroline wasn't that person.

Beside them, Zander growled, tussling with Tyler.

"Let him go, Zander," Meredith said. "I need you to tell me if Caroline's telling the truth. "

Zander snarled again, kneeing Tyler in the chest and knocking him onto the ground. Meredith stared at him. She'd never seen the easygoing Zander like this: his white teeth bared in fury. He even looked bigger, and somehow more feral, his hair disordered as if it was trying to stand on end.

Zander had once told her, Meredith remembered, that those who had been turned into werewolves didn't smell right to him, not like Original werewolves.

From behind her, closer to the fire, Bonnie spoke, her voice rough from the smoke. "Zander," she said. "Zander, let him go. "

Zander heard Bonnie as he hadn't seemed to hear Meredith, reluctantly releasing Tyler and standing up. He was tense, though, poised to attack again as Tyler slowly climbed to his feet, brushing dirt from himself. They watched each other carefully.

"All right," Zander said. He backed away from Tyler slowly, his lips still pulled back in a snarl, and looked at Caroline. Zander got close to her, close enough to sniff at her neck. "Tell me what you're doing here," he said.

Caroline pulled away indignantly, but Meredith took her arm and forced her back toward Zander. "Why are you here, Caroline?" she asked sternly.

The auburn-haired girl glared at them. "I don't have to explain myself to you," she said. "We're just camping. The fire was an accident. "

"So Klaus didn't send you here?" Bonnie asked skeptically. "You've never been the camping type, Caroline. "

"This doesn't have anything to do with Klaus," Caroline said steadily.

"What about you, Tyler?" Meredith asked. "Did your old master send you here?"

Tyler shook his head hurriedly. "I don't want anything to do with that guy," he said.

"Well, Zander?" Meredith asked quietly.

"They're telling the truth, as far as they know it," Zander said. "But there's something wrong. They smell . . . off. "

"Klaus compelled them," Meredith said flatly. "They only know what Klaus told them was true. And Klaus must have told them to go camping here. We can't hold them responsible for burning down the tree. It's not their fault. "

"That's ridiculous," Caroline said. "No one compelled us to do anything. " But her voice sounded nervous and unsure, and Tyler wrapped his arm around her protectively.

"It's not a big deal," Tyler assured her. "Even if we'd meant to burn down that tree, it's just a tree. Why would Klaus even care?"

Meredith let her stave rest loosely against her leg. She wasn't going to fight anyone here. The Tyler she'd known back in the worst days in Fell's Church might have deserved killing, but judging by the way he was trying to shield Caroline, that wasn't who he was now. "It was a pretty important tree," she said quietly.

"I'm sorry," Caroline said. Caroline had never been good at apologies, Meredith remembered. "You've got no reason to believe me, to believe us, but I wouldn't have done anything to hurt you, not even kill a tree. If the memories I have of Fell's Church are real, we used to be friends. Real friends," she said, looking from Meredith to Bonnie, "and I ruined it all. "

"Yeah, you did," Bonnie said bluntly. "But it's in the past now. " Caroline gave her a crooked half smile, and, after a moment, Bonnie smiled back awkwardly.

"What do you remember? About Fell's Church?" Meredith asked them.

Tyler visibly swallowed and pulled Caroline closer to him. "The monsters and everything, that's the truth?" he asked, his voice shaking.