The Vampire Diaries: The Salvation, Unspoken(12)

Elena pulled over onto the shoulder and turned off the engine. Climbing out of the car, she felt her heart beat faster at the sight of the tall woman with smooth blond hair.

Mylea herself stepped out of the SUV, the Celestial Guardian who had initiated Elena into her own Guardianship, and who had bound her and Damon together.

Celestial Guardians were not her favorite people, not by a long shot. Self-righteous, judgmental, and dangerous were about the right words for them. But they were also Powerful. If Mylea had come here about Jack and his vampires, she could give Elena Power that would help her defeat them. Elena would be able to take revenge for Stefan. She could protect Damon.

Elena took a deep breath and walked toward the Guardian, roadside gravel crunching beneath her feet.

“Elena Gilbert,” the tall, golden-haired Guardian said levelly as soon as they were face-to-face. Her eyes, the same dark blue as Elena’s own, were cool and assessing. “The Celestial Court requires your service. It is time for your next Task.”

“We’ve been looking for Jack Daltry,” Elena told her. “He killed Stefan, and countless others, and we don’t know where he’s hiding. Can you help us?”

Mylea’s forehead creased slightly, a small line appearing between her perfectly arched brows. “That is not why I’ve come. Jack Daltry is not your concern,” she said.

“Not my concern?” Outrage flooded over Elena, and she clenched her fists involuntarily. Biting back her anger, she tried to speak as calmly as Mylea did. “He killed Stefan. That makes him my concern.”

Mylea’s frown deepened. “It is not your place to avenge the death of vampires,” she said. “Your duty is to protect the human race from the supernatural, not the other way around.”

“I know!” Elena’s voice was almost a shout, and she took a deep breath and forced her fists to unclench. Emotion would do nothing to influence Mylea. “But Jack is a danger to humans,” she argued, more calmly. “He’s been changing them into vampires. And he feeds on humans, just like any other vampire.”

Celestial Guardians didn’t shrug, in Elena’s experience—it was too human a gesture—but the tilt of Mylea’s head as she listened gave the same impression: What Elena was saying might be true, but it was irrelevant. “Everything in the universe balances eventually, but Jack Daltry and his creations are not your responsibility,” she said. “They are not supernatural.”

“They’re vampires,” Elena said, losing her grip on her temper again.

“They are an imitation of true vampires, created by a human,” Mylea said sternly.

Elena gritted her teeth and glared at the Celestial Guardian. “I had forgotten how fixated Guardians are on technicalities.”

Mylea ignored this. “You have other duties,” she said.

She took Elena’s hand—her own hand was cold, as cold as any vampire’s, Elena realized—and turned it palm upward. Elena’s scar was itching more than ever and shimmering silver against the pale skin of her palm. Mylea ran a finger across it, and Elena shuddered. Her anger was ebbing under Mylea’s touch, she realized, and wondered if Mylea was using her own Power to calm Elena. She yanked her hand out of the Guardian’s grip.

“You swore a blood oath,” Mylea said, her gold-flecked blue eyes fixed on Elena’s, “to obey the Celestial Court’s instructions.”

“I know.” Elena sighed, resigned. There was no use in fighting Mylea. This was what she was made for, to protect people. It didn’t mean she couldn’t concentrate on finding Jack as well. “Tell me what you want.”

“An old vampire has come to this part of the world. She’s been feeding on humans and killing them,” Mylea said. “We’ve known of her for a long time, but she’s only gotten more dangerous the older she gets. She kills for pleasure now, not just for food, and she needs to be stopped. Her name is Siobhan.” She abruptly fell silent, and Elena’s palm immediately stopped itching.

Elena waited a moment, but Mylea seemed to be finished. “That’s it? You can’t tell me anything else?”

Mylea tilted her head again. “What would you like to know?”

“Anything. Where she is? What she looks like?”

Turning to walk back toward her car, Mylea spoke back over her shoulder. “You’ll have the Power to find her and to defeat her when you need to. Have faith in yourself.” When she reached her SUV, she glanced at Elena again. “One thing I will tell you. Siobhan is very clever, and, unlike most of the Old Ones you have hunted, the long years of her life have not driven the more passionate human emotions out of her.”