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When Da squelch, the kid hung against the bars for a , before the sullen expression settled back on his face "He’ll get me out," he muttered, and his eyes fixed on Meredith’s Frozen to the spot, she rinned, an angry, deadly grin, and gripped the stake again

Alaric coughed "Instructive as this is," he said dryly, "weren’t we going to discuss our plans?"

"Right" Darip on the stake and turned away froed at hih the bars between the so fast Meredith’s eyes could barely follow Without thinking, she charged forward, shoving the kid away, her hands slae

"Thank you" Dalanced at the trapped vampire, his eyes sharp "We’ll talk about this later," he said, his tone threatening The kid hadn’t been able to reach far, bound as he was, but there were bloody scrapes across the side of Damon’s throat

Relief loosened Meredith’s chest, and she took a deep breath When it had coer she was feeling, the way all her friends, except Da to be fine

"Da," Elena told them all "We have to assu there and will send more vampires after hio to… eliminate his enemies" She sounded businesslike, but Meredith could hear the undercurrent of fear in her voice Elena couldn’t handle losing anyone else

"So we need to step up our ga spells I can think of and make some more protection charms for all of us Zander and the Pack can--"

"Uh" Zander broke in, looking unco on right now I mean, I’ll do whatever I can, but I don’t think you can count on the whole Pack"

"But…" Bonnie looked confused

Zander shifted fro into his eyes "We’ll patrol like we usually do, I just don’t knoat Bonnie, or at any of the peculiar Then she caught a full whiff of Zander’s scent as heelse His blood would be strong and wild, she knew, and she couldn’t help iht taste Her teeth ached, and she stepped back away from him Clearly, she wasn’t fine yet She had to fix this

Damon’s eyes met hers for a aze

"Okay," Elena said briskly "Bonnie, that sounds great, and Zander, just have the Pack do what they can" Zander nodded Bonnie was still staring at hihtly parted

"You and I ork on this fellow," Dalance at the trapped vaet inforure out how to kill hiet some of his blood, I can analyze it at the hospital to see how Jack ishis vampires," Jasmine offered shyly "Maybe Matt can help me"

"And I’d like to try to track down Jack’s history," Alaric added "The more we learn about who he was before he becaht hiht Meredith’s eye and cocked an eyebrow at her They’d already discussed Meredith’s next step

"I want to head down to Atlanta for a while, talk to Darlene and the other hunters orking with Jack," she said, slipping easily into the lie they’d decided on "They’ve got to know so that will help us track hi in a question Of course he was surprised--she hadn’t discussed this with hi him with her eyes to understand Alaric bit his lip, and then his face softened He kne she had adht he was a hunter, and Meredith could see hiood for her

"Okay," he said "Don’t be gone long, though We should all be sticking together right now"

Elena frowned "You’re probably the best one to figure out how to kill this vampire"

Damon put a hand on Elena’s shoulder, and she leaned toward him "I can handle the fake vampire," he said smoothly "Meredith should do what she has to do"

It would be good to get away, Meredith thought She had to get away before she hurt the people she loved

She couldn’t live like this JackThere had to be a way to undo what he had done to her All she had to do was make him trust her

Meredith left the next day, aed Elena and Bonnie and the others Da her with sharp, half-amused eyes Meredith promised to touch base often, told theot to Atlanta The whole ti anyone’s scent, andher teeth into anyone’s throat

Once she had driven a few miles away from home, Meredith pulled onto the shoulder to take a breath and let herself think