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the body. “He ripped her apart,” she said, her voice low with shock. “This wasn’t just for food. Whatever happened… he wanted to hurt her. ”
Matt frowned. “Forget about talking to him. We’d better go back to planning an attack. ”
Elena looked around the room. Blue curtains. Log walls, wooden floor. A stone fireplace at one side of the room, cold now but blackened with the smoke of an earlier fire. It was so familiar. Not Hansel and Gretel, but Snow White.
“Not him,” she told them, her voice a harsh whisper. “The vampire’s a her. Jack’s original vampire is Siobhan. My Guardian task. ”
It was late afternoon when Damon landed on the sill of Elena’s bedroom window. He balanced carefully on the slightly too-small ledge, his talons digging into the wood, and tapped hard with his beak on the window. Elena was in there, he could feel her, and he was too tired to wait.
The Power animal blood gave him didn’t last as long as he’d hoped, not as long as a real meal. He could have flown for longer on human blood, but now his wings were aching and he felt dizzy and sick. He hadn’t wanted to change back while he was out, in case another attack came. He wasn’t confident he would have the Power to turn into a crow again.
Elena’s quick steps crossed the room, and she yanked the window open. “Damon,” she said.
He fluttered through the window, brushing her face with his longest wing feather as he passed, and landed on the wide soft bed before letting himself transform back into his real shape. Stretching out on Elena’s smooth white sheets, he rested his head on her pillow.
Elena’s face softened with surprise. “You’re as pale as a ghost,” she said. “Where have you been?”
Damon sighed. “The fake vampires found me. I didn’t want to come back here until I was sure I’d gotten rid of them. ” Elena inhaled sharply, but Damon, closing his eyes, didn’t elaborate. He wasn’t sure if the false vampires had been tracking him, or if there were just a lot of them around, but whenever he’d been tempted to land, he had felt that strange metallic wrongness. Damon relaxed into the bed, rolling his shoulders back; he was terribly tired.
“Are you all right?” The mattress shifted as Elena sat down on the bed next to him. After a moment, her hand stroked softly over Damon’s arm. “You need blood,” Elena said firmly, and Damon opened his eyes to peer at her.
This still felt like something he shouldn’t be allowed to do, not with Stefan dead. But Elena scooted closer and lay down beside him, pushing her silky blond hair back to expose the long creamy line of her throat. Damon didn’t have it in him to resist her offer. Pulling her closer, he molded his body around Elena’s. He could feel his canines lengthening, aching with anticipation, and he kissed her neck gently before he laid the tips of his teeth against it. His canines were so sensitive that he shuddered with pleasure as they touched her.
Elena made a soft, encouraging sound, and Damon bit down. For a moment, her skin was taut against his teeth, and then they plunged through, blood bursting rich and hot into his mouth.
With the blood came a rush of emotions: love, worry, guilt. Relief at being able to do something for Damon. Under everything, that same constant pounding grief for Stefan.
She was sensing Damon’s emotions in return, he knew. He stroked her arm, sending her all the reassurance he could: He was fine, more than fine when he was with her like this. Sometimes he thought all he needed was this, was Elena and his connection to her. He let himself rest against her, felt his lips curve into a smile against the skin of her neck. Elena Elena Elena.
And then, unbidden, Meredith’s face swam up behind his eyes, and Elena twitched beneath his lips. He was usually better at shielding his thoughts than that; he’d had centuries of practice. He’d gotten distracted too easily.
Private, Damon thought fiercely, half-hissing as he arched away, his teeth almost leaving her throat. He could feel Elena’s confusion echoing through her blood and their bond. There was a sudden coldness between them, where there had been only tenderness mere moments ago. She began to pull away, and he tugged her back, close and warm against him, his arm around her.
He had promised Meredith, and now that he’d given his word, Damon couldn’t bring himself to break it. Once a gentleman, always a gentleman, he supposed.
He ran his fingers comfortingly through Elena’s silky hair in a silent apology, and worked his canines gently in and out of her throat, encouraging the flow of blood. Letting his mouth fill, he reached for his connection with Elena again. But she was holding back now. There was a strange hollow ache inside him, more than hunger.
As she pulled away from him at last, leaving him sated and warm with new blood, Elena wiped one hand across her neck. Damon’s gaze followed her hand as it carelessly smeared a single drop of blood toward her shoulder. When their eyes met again, Damon felt an unexpected pang.
She knew he was hiding something.
Chapter 15
Bonnie came down the hall of her apartment building slowly, dragging her feet. She was sure the apartment would be empty and that she’d be having dinner alone again. She’d given up on expecting Zander to be there.
As she turned the corner toward her own door, she stopped in surprise. There was someone kneeling in the hall outside her apartment, crouching to push something under the door. Bonnie’s heart thumped hard, adrenaline zinging through her body, and then she realized who it was.
“Hey, Shay,” she said, coming closer. “What’s up?”
Shay, Zander’s second-in-command, looked up, her hands half-crumpling the edge of the envelope she had been slipping through the gap beneath their door. “Oh,” she said. “Bonnie. I was just leaving Zander a note. ” Her fingers scrabbled quickly, pulling the envelope back out from beneath the door. Standing, she stuffed the envelope into her pocket.
“Oh. ” Zander’s not home. Just as I expected. “I can give it to him. ” Bonnie reached out, but Shay stepped back, away from her.
“Never mind,” Shay said. “I’ll tell him when I see him. ”
“But—” Bonnie gave up. Shay was already turning, her blond bob swinging, and walking away down the hall. She gave Bonnie a wave over her shoulder, not looking back.
“See you later, Bonnie. ”
