Elena sucked in a breath of surprise. They'd been hunting Celine for months. She was an Old One, one of the Original vampires-an ancient, vicious monster who'd stalked the night of every continent for countless centuries. Celine was the last of the three Old Ones they'd been able to find traces of, the last they'd needed to kill to make this part of the world safe.
At first, Elena had tracked her with Stefan and Meredith ...
"Watch your head," Stefan told Elena, holding back a trailing vine for her to duck under. Behind it was an ominous, dark opening, the entrance to a hidden cave. Meredith followed them inside, her stave held at shoulder level in one hand, ready to strike. Stefan's stave dangled more carelessly, held loosely in his grip.
"Celine's here; I'm sure of it," Elena said. She could feel the Old One's presence, could see the trail of Celine's aura, peacock blue twisted with gold and black, tarnished with the sickening rust red of old blood. "She's really powerful," Elena whispered. "And she knows we're coming."
"Terrific," Meredith muttered. They carefully felt their way down the tunnel, half-blind in the darkness, Stefan leading the way. The ground was rocky and uneven underfoot. Elena pressed her hands against the cold stone walls to keep from falling. The tunnel led deeper and deeper underground, and Elena breathed slowly, trying not to think about the tons of earth and stone above her.
"It's okay," Stefan murmured, squeezing her hand. "She can't hurt you." Nothing supernatural could hurt Elena-a benefit of her Guardian Powers, and one they had to keep secret.
On the silver spikes at the ends of each stave was a telltale darkness-tiny amounts of Elena's own blood, poison to any Old One. Only her blood would kill Celine; only she could track Celine's aura. And she could feel her other Guardian Powers readying for the fight, gathering like thunderclouds.
Elena was ready. She wasn't afraid, she told herself fiercely. Stefan was right. Nothing supernatural could kill her.
They stepped cautiously around a curve in the tunnel and blinked, dazzled by a sudden flood of light. The sun shone through an opening somewhere high overhead, hitting the crystals that studded the cavern's walls, sending brilliant shafts of light everywhere. It took Elena a moment to realize there was a figure in the middle of the room, a pillar of darkness in the light.
The vampire stood as still and upright as a statue, her thick dark hair hanging heavy and long around her shoulders. Her aura swirled around her, tracing gold and rust red across her features, as though she were dripping with blood. She looked young, her face smooth and serene-until she raised her eyes to meet Elena's.
Her eyes were dark, empty-and old, very old. These were eyes that had seen civilizations rise from tiny villages to great cities and then fall into ashes, over and over again. Celine's delicate eyebrows arched, expectant and amused, as she gazed at them.
Elena stayed still in the entrance while Stefan and Meredith fanned out, heading in opposite directions along the side of the cavern, their staves poised, watching for their chance. Celine was too powerful for them to attack head-on, but if she were distracted, or if Elena used her Guardian Power against her ... Meredith caught Elena's eye, and Elena reached for her Power, understanding. Could she hold the Old One still long enough for one of the others to strike?
Celine stayed motionless, those cruel dark eyes fixed only on Elena. She can't hurt me, Elena reminded herself. She took a deep breath and managed to snag the right trigger for her Power, like pulling a string. The energy gathering in her mind began to coalesce. She centered it, feeling the Power as solid as an arrow, directing it at Celine.
The Old One's lips quirked into a smile. "I don't think so, little Guardian," she said, her voice rich with laughter. "I know your secret."
She raised one hand and made a quick plucking gesture at the ceiling. A heavy crack rang out through the air as the stone ceiling above them began to split.
"Elena, run!" Stefan shouted. Before she could move, the rocks began plummeting down.
"Stefan ..." she managed to say, just as everything went black.
Elena winced, remembering how she'd woken up with a bad concussion, Celine long gone. After that, Stefan and Meredith had refused to let her come on the hunts. Since Celine somehow knew Elena could be killed by natural means-like a rock slide-but not supernatural ones, they thought it was too dangerous to let her get anywhere near the Old One. Elena had wielded her Guardian Powers from a distance, just as Bonnie and Alaric had researched and used magic to try to track Celine.
But now Celine was dead.
Ignoring the bloodstains, Elena tugged Stefan to her and kissed him, tenderly at first and then more deeply. "You did it. You're wonderful," she murmured against his lips.
She felt his mouth twitch into a smile, and he pulled back, cupping her cheek in one hand as he looked into her eyes, his clear-eyed gaze so full of love that Elena felt light-headed. "We couldn't have done it without you," he said.
"Well, yeah," Elena joked, glancing down at the slim leather case at their feet, which held Stefan's stave, the tiny silver hypodermics at each end filled with her deadly blood.
"More than just that," Stefan said, shaking his head. "I couldn't have done any of this without you. Elena, everything I do is because of you." His eyes shone, and he ran his fingers softly over her cheek. "And you're safe. This is the end. Now that Celine is dead, there are no more Old Ones."
"Not that we know of," Elena said, twisting her lips ruefully. If there was one thing she had learned over the past few years, it was that it was never truly over.
"But we're safe for now." He kissed her again, his body solid against hers. Elena let herself fall into the kiss. Their minds intertwined, sending each other love and desire, and then she reluctantly pulled away.
"We need to leave for Bonnie's birthday party in a few minutes," she said firmly.
Stefan smiled and pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head before stepping back. "It's okay," he said. "We've got plenty of time."
He headed for the bathroom to wash up, his stride loose and relaxed.
Elena looked after him thoughtfully. It was true. Now that Elena had drunk from the Fountain of Eternal Youth and Life, she would be beside Stefan forever. They had all the time in the world.
She knew she should be content. But with every steady beat of her heart, she couldn't help returning to the apprehension in the back of her mind. Despite their shared immortality, despite Celine's death, Elena had a bad feeling that time was running out.