After some time, a soundless blur passed the window. A moment later, Bonnie Bennett stood in the doorway. She was still in her day clothes. Her face tight with worry and exhaustion. Her expression held clear reluctance. She hadn't wanted to see the Salvatore brothers or Elena, but the mention of Natalia's crisis had overruled her personal war. She hadn't even checked if Elena was awake.
"Bonnie, thank God. She's completely depleted. She's ice cold. I can't warm her up." Stefan stood immediately when he saw Bonnie standing in front of Natalia's bedroom door with relief washing over his fear.
Bonnie nodded curtly, deliberately avoiding eye contact with him. She walked straight to the bedside as she set her worn grimoire and small bag on the nightstand. She reached out and her hands hovering above my forehead. She can feel the chaotic ebb of my power. Her frown deepened.
"What did she do?" Bonnie whispered before she pulled out her grimoire and flipping through the fragile pages.
"She used Elena's blood to break through a magical barrier protecting Isobel. She said she did damage to the witch and saw Katherine, but the spell hit her hard when she pulled out." Stefan explained as he watched Bonnie's every move. Bonnie heard what he said as his hands continue to flip through the pages and she stops when her gaze fell onto a complex diagram.
"She used Elena's blood amplified by her own magic to fight an enemy witch that might be thousands miles away. That's not a spell, Stefan. That's a siege. She uses dark magic to cast that spell and now her spirit channel is dangerously low. We need to stabilize her immediately." Bonnie said as she knelt by the bed and placed one hand on my cold and clammy wrist. She then began to chant and her voice was low and focused.
"Phasmatos Infernum Vesta." She was casting a simple, restorative spell. It was a small borrowing of energy to prevent her core power for flat lining completely and from allowing the dark magic to distrup her core power.
"The witch she fought must be incredibly powerful. Althought not as powerful as Natalia but since she is using dark magic, casting that spell from far and fighting that witch on the same time, it took a toll on her and her body is paying the price." Bonnie said as she looked up at Stefan, her expression intense.
Stefan watched as the magic work and the color slowly creeping back into my lips. He then pressed her gently on the other issue.
"Bonnie, why are you avoiding me and Elena?" He asked and Bonnie's chanting faltered momentarily. She finished the spell and closed her grimoire with a heavy thud and pulled her hand back. She finally looked directly at Stefan and her eyes hardened with unresolved grief and anger.
She didn't answer the question. She simply stared at him for a long, painful moment. It was a silence that spoke volumes about her shattered trust and loss, before gathering her grimoire and turning toward the door.
"The spell is done. Keep her warm. She will be fine by morning." She said and her voice was flat, devoid of emotion. And just as swiftly as she arrived, Bonnie was gone, retreating from the house without a goodbye.
Stefan was left alone in the quiet bedroom. He walked back to the armchair and sat. He watched the slow, shallow rise and fall of my chest. He spent the entire night there.
He didn't move. He simply observed. He checked my temperature every hour. He pulled the blankets tighter even though he knew it was futile. He watched the shadows shift across the room, listening to the quiet sound of the house. He felt strange and profound connection to the vampire witch in the bed. It wasn't the fiery, intense passion he felt for Elena, but a deeper, more unsettling pull. He felt a need to protect something ancient and powerful, something that had sacrificed its own ability for his own family's sake.
He saw the lines of exhaustion around my eyes. The vulnerability of my face without its usual sharp, guarded expression. A small, insistent kernel of feeling began to take root in his heart. It was a selfless worry that superseded his own romance and his own safety. This wasn't merely an ally. This was someone he was becoming responsible for.
Meanwhile, downstairs, Elena slept soundly on the couch, unaware of the crisis that had unfolded just above her.
I woke before the sun had truly risen, roused not by sound, but by the cold, heavy realization that I was alive. Is hifted slightly, immediately feeling the stiff exhaustion that radiated from every muscle. The blankets were oppressive.
I blinked, my eyes adjusting to the faint pre-dawn light. I glanced to the side and was stunned to see Stefan, slumped deep in the armchair. His head resting awkwardly on his chest, fast asleep. He was still fully dressed, looking entirely out of place in my opulent bedroom.
The small sound of my movement was enough. Stefan's eyes snapped open instantly and his vampire instincts overriding his exhaustion. He straightened and his gaze immediately locking onto me.
"Natalia." He breathed, relied flooding his features. He rose instantly, moving to the edge of the bed.
"You're awake. How do you feel? You were ice cold all night." He said as he reached out, his hand moving towards my forehead to check my temperature. His touch was gentle, utterly sincere and laced with genuine, kind attention.
The intimacy of the situation, the dark room, his sleepless vigil, his open worry, it was all deeply unsettling. I was not built for such tenderness, especially not after what had happened before.
I gently, but firmly, pushed his hand away before he could make contact, meeting his eyes with a cold clarity that immediately erected a wall between us.
"I feel like a thousand years old, Salvatore, which is my normal state." I said and my voice was rough. I sat up slowly, carefully pulling the blankets off.
"That kind of spell has a price and now I have recover from the price." I said as I swung my legs over the side of the bed, ignoring the immediate, dizzying pull of gravity.
"Go home." I commanded, refusing to look at him as I sought solid footing.
"And take Elena with you. Katherine knows we are tracking her now. This is no longer a search, it's a race. I need you to focus on Trudie Peterson immediately."
"You just collapsed. You need to recover for at least another day. I can handle Trudie." Stefan said as he tried to argue. His concern giving way to stubborn determination.
"You need to be the one to talk to Trudie. She's a human connection. She will respod better to you and Elena than to me. I will be doing my part from here. Now, go. I have work to do, and I don't appreciate having a houseguest sleeps in my furniture." I cut him off, turning to face him. My expression allowing no room for debate.
Stefan hesitated as he saw the finality in my gaze. He knew arguing would be useless. He simply nodded, his worry receding slightly as he saw the familiar steel return to my eyes. He gave the room one last lingering glance, at the disheveled bed, the massive pile of useless blankets and me, before he turned away and leave the bedroom.
The house was silent again. The sun was just beginning to touch the horizon. I walked over to the windows, watching Stefan emerge from the front door, pausing briefly to carry Elena who was sleeping on the couch, before walking away, while carrying her into his car. I was alone, depleted, but ready for the work that lay ahead.