Unstoppable | The Vampire Diaries

114. I Knew You Were Trouble

Riley winced as she cut her hand on the Phoenix Sword, letting the droplets of blood drip onto the map that was placed on the floor between Bonnie and Nora.

"Phesmatos invenira venatrixos isto gladulla onyx," the witch and Heretic chanted at the same time. The blood moved along the map, tracing a line to Ohio.

"Remind me again why you needed my blood to do that?" Riley asked, looking curiously at the map.

"You're connected to the stone," Nora reminded her. "The stone is connected to the sword, the sword is connected to the huntress, and the huntress is on her way here to... hunt us." She held up a postcard that she'd received. It was blank, other than a red 'X' in the center. It didn't mean anything to Riley or Bonnie, but it was enough to terrify Nora.

"Why announce herself with a cryptic postcard?" Bonnie wondered aloud. "Isn't the element of surprise a basic principle of good vampire hunting?"

"Not for Rayna Cruz," a voice said from the doorway. They all looked up to see Mary Louise watching them with a sour look on her face. "Rayna has a taste for taunting her victims."

"How do you guys even know about this Rayna Cruz person?" Riley asked.

"She used the sword to put Julian's soul in the Phoenix Stone," Nora revealed. "Along with thousands of other vampires." She looked up at her ex-girlfriend. "Did Julian get a postcard?"

Mary Louise shook her head. "I said we'd take care of the problem, for all our sakes."

"Well," Bonnie butted in. "Your vampire huntress is currently residing somewhere in Cincinnati."

Mary Louise nodded dismissively. "Let's get going, Nora. The sooner she's dead, the better."

Bonnie scoffed, raising an eyebrow at the blonde Heretic. "Do you think I just did that locator spell for a tune-up?"

Riley nodded in agreement. "We're coming with you."

Mary Louise rolled her eyes. "We're good, thanks," she said disdainfully.

"You said this person hunts vampires," Riley reminded her. "If you guys have led her here, then all of our friends are in danger, including my boyfriend and my heavily pregnant sister. We're going."

"Plus, it's not like we can trust either of you two to take her down," Bonnie told them both. She was completely in agreement with Riley – if their friends were in danger, she was gonna do whatever it took to protect them.

"And what makes you think we trust you?"

Nora looked over at them, smiling at Bonnie. "I trust them. After all, you only care about pleasing Julian. So, you can come with us, or you can go back to him empty-handed."

Mary Louise looked at her ex in disbelief, not able to hide the hurt in her eyes that was clearly Nora's intention. Bonnie looked between the two awkwardly.

"I call shotgun!"

***

The locator spell led them to a psychiatric hospital in Cincinnati.

"So, if this woman is the one who put Julian in the Hell Stone a hundred years ago, how is she still alive?" Riley asked as they walked down the halls, towards the room that one of the doctors had pointed out.

"She was spelled to be a vampire huntress by shamans," Nora said. "They created that sword for her and imbued her with extraordinary strength. "Why shouldn't they give her a very long life to go with it?"