Read Destiny Rising for Free Online

he had been so quiet and distant, reluctant to make any kind of mark on the humans who surrounded him. He had felt, Elena knew, like he was diseased, like he couldn’t be among mortals without spreading death and despair.
    Now he had the quality of a natural leader. As if he felt Elena’s eyes on him, Stefan glanced up at her, his lips forming a small, private smile just for her. She knew this change in Stefan was due to her and to all that had happened in the past year. Surely, whatever Damon had done—even if he was sinking into violence again because of Elena—here in Stefan was something that she could be uncomplicatedly proud of?
    “Couldn’t we do something with all that vervain?” Bonnie asked suddenly. “Like, burn it, or make it a gas somehow and fill the tunnels with its smoke? If we blocked the other exits, all the vampires would go into the house. We could trap them and burn the house down, or at least get to all of them at once.”
    “That’s a good idea, Bonnie,” Stefan said. Zander agreed enthusiastically and Bonnie’s face lit up with pleasure. It was funny, Elena thought, that they were all used to thinking of Bonnie as sort of the junior member of the group, the one who needed to be protected, and she really wasn’t; she hadn’t been for a long time.
    “What other resources do we have?” Stefan asked thoughtfully, pacing back and forth across the room.
    “I could get the guys to help out,” Zander suggested. “We’ve been after the Vitale vampires for a while. We won’t be as strong as we would be if it were the right lunar phase, and not all ten of us can transition without the full moon. But we work pretty well together . . .” His voice trailed off. “If you want us,” he added. “I know you don’t all feel comfortable with werewolves, and, to be honest, we’re not usually big fans of vampires. No offense.” He looked from Stefan to Meredith, who still held the knife against her leg.
    Meredith, of course, was the one most likely to object to bringing a Pack of werewolves into their group. Bonnie had assured them that Zander’s Pack was different than the werewolves they’d met before—that they were good, more like guard dogs than wild animals. But Meredith had been raised to hunt monsters.
    Now she nodded slowly to Zander, though, and said only, “We can use all the help we can get.” Bonnie and Meredith locked eyes across the room and Bonnie’s lips tipped up in a tiny, satisfied smile.
    “Speaking of ‘all the help we can get,’” Meredith said. “Where’s Damon?” She looked from Elena to Stefan when they didn’t immediately answer. “This is one time when we can really use him. You should call him and get him in on the plan.” Her expression was sympathetic but determined, and Elena realized that Meredith thought they were hesitating because Elena had almost-dated Damon while she and Stefan had been apart. If only Meredith knew the truth, she thought, but she can’t ever know. Stefan and I need to keep Damon safe.
    “Maybe you could call him, Elena?” Bonnie asked tentatively.
    Elena’s and Stefan’s eyes met. Stefan’s face was blank and controlled again, and Elena couldn’t see the tiniest crack in his armor as he cut in, smoothly and casually, “No, I’ll call Damon. I need to talk to him, anyway.”
    Elena bit her lip and nodded. She wanted to see Damon for herself—she was desperate to see him, to know what was wrong with him, wanting to fix it—but he wasn’t taking her calls. Maybe what Damon needed right now from Elena was space. She hoped that Stefan, at least, could get through to him.

Chapter 5
    W hen Stefan knocked on the door of Damon’s apartment, Damon opened it almost immediately, glared at Stefan, and tried to slam the door shut in his face.
    “Stop,” Stefan said, inserting his shoulder in the doorway. “You must have been able to sense that it was me.”
    “I knew you’d keep knocking or find a way in if I didn’t