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Damon slipped from shadow to shadow, from alleyway to darkened doorway The ht--occasionally a car’s headlights swept quickly across the fronts of the closed shops and restaurants, and one or two late wanderers hurried down the sidewalks But he made sure the few people he encountered did not see hiht with a sered in the shadows of a storefront awning, his back pressed against the building’s cold brick Thanks to Elena’s blood, he’d recovered fro he’d taken at Jack’s hands the day before, and he felt strong and fierce

He ran his tongue across his lips, re Elena’s blood had tasted so sweet She’d shielded herself against him, but no matter--she was filled with tenderness for Darief and love for Stefan

Stefan Da to be clever about it this ti into action without getting a full picture of the situation He would have to be patient Not, unfortunately, one of his best talents

Da just a trace of wrongness, sohtly off--similar to what he’d sensed fro acidic about the allass of water

It was one of Jack’s synthetic va a human The creature was about two blocks away He let it cross another street before he pushed off the building to follow, ht If he could catch the vampire, he could learnMaybe he could even figure out how to kill the down the street, Daures ahead The synthetic vairl, he realized, listening to the weight of her feet pattering along behind the hu ready to pounce, soo Inexperienced, Dahtened Jack must have made this one recently

He stretched out his Power, listening, trying to sense the ain, that flash of sohtly off This one wasn’t as good at hiding it yet as Jack was, more evidence that the vampire was freshly made

The footsteps suddenly stopped, and Dae of fear--the hu vampire would be distracted and easier to catch

The fear in the air drew hi lot behind a Mexican restaurant The restaurant was closed for the night, but Damon could still smell the tacos and enchiladas as he rounded the corner of the building And, overpoweringly, the scent of blood Da His , and he wanted

But he couldn’t drink He couldn’t take an unwilling hu Elena He would never hurt her

The synthetic va tree at the edge of the parking lot The victi

Silently, Da on the balls of his feet, he was ready to leap, to take the young false va, and then froze So familiar about the scent And the way the va dark hair pulled back at the nape of her neck Shock ran through hiht up with his senses, and he was frozen for a moment

Then he dashed forward and pulled the vampire off her victim with one hand "Meredith?"

Meredith Sulez--vampire hunter, always coht side by side--swung around to face hi toMeredith’s thick black eyelashes ith tears and bright blood was save a quick, broken sob, her eyes dropping as her face colored with sha "Da for so long, and I just couldn’t stop this tio like this--"

He sed and pushed away his shock Meredith was clinging tightly to her victi on Meredith’s shoulder Of course she couldn’t influence the girl to ic or Power, they were creatures of science

"Please," Meredith begged, bringing her desperate gaze up toher lip nervously, and a thin trail of her own blood trickled down her chin

Slipping a cool mask over his surprise--When did this happen? How could I not have known?--Daed the human out of Meredith’s arirl’s head bobbled fro forward across her cheeks Meredith had really made a mess of her victi out Damon wrinkled his nose fastidiously "Coain, until she blinked blearily up at hiainst the girl’s lips He forced her to drink a fes, enough to h" Without waiting for an answer, he stroked his Power along herfor obedience "You won’t remember what happened You were out late, and you fell, that’s how you hurt your neck Everything’s fine Go houe across her dry lips "I have to go hoirl," Da her top It was a pity about the bloodstains, but there was nothing he could do "Go on"

The girl nodded and staggered off through the parking lot Dao and then turned his attention to Meredith

She was staring at hi with panicky panting breaths Da off her, and her heart was pounding hard If Da, sharp canines and sensed that little bit of wrongness under her false aura, he would have thought Meredith was still hu her distress just a little bit, now that his shock had faded "What’s neith you?"

Meredith gulped unhappily "I was just so hungry," she said, her voice strained

Da his expression bland "You don’t need to explain to ed you?"

Meredith rubbed at her face, trying to wipe away the blood and only s it across her cheek "A week," she said, her eyes downcast It felt odd, seeing Meredith so huI couldn’t see his face"

Damon nodded "Does anyone else know?" he asked It wouldn’t be the first time that they’d kept him out of the loop, but he couldn’t believe Elena had known He would have sensed her shock through the bond between therief