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Jack’s vampires Now that Jack knew Da him The little vampire outside his and Elena’s ho, and only the fact that Da there And now they’d found him here, in the forest If they were able to track him, they would pursue Damon the same way their kind had chased him and Katherine across Europe Only noas alone

Pushing away a flare of panic, Damon stepped backward so that the birch tree was at his back once more They wouldn’t be able to co for the shape of theirhis Power to its fullest extent, he could barely sense theht not have sensed theht or nine, the feel of them quiet but, once he’d found the theht, nor was Meredith He knew the feel of those two ers Just howcloser, alh for hi for moveht, but he couldn’t spot the low in his throat with frustration, Dale of trees

The first va hiirl, no taller than Bonnie and probably a few years younger She took advantage of his surprise, going straight for Daht

Darabbed a fistful of her thick hair, yanking her head back and away froed to snap her neck She fell limply at his feet, her face e, but she’d be out of the fight for the moment

"Come on then, children," he said to the dark shapes he kneere just out of his field of vision, taunting them "Are you monsters or cowards?" He hesitated and stared out into the darkness, feeling with his Power Could he feel soht? "Dilly, dilly, ducks, co popping into his head as he strained to pinpoint just what it was he was on the verge of sensing

There There and there All around They were dropping their shields now, he realized; he could feel theerly They weren’t intimidated by how quickly he’d put down the little blonde She’d only been an experi a snake with a stick to see how fast it rim satisfaction rose from them

They weren’t afraid of hiht er than he was, demons and ancient vampires But they’d always been cautious, a little wary, respecting him even if they didn’t think he was a true threat

But he didn’t kno to kill these vampires, didn’t even kno to hurt the And they knew it

There were toohe could Between one blink and another, he pulled his Power fiercely around hi his body violently coe with only animal blood in his veins, but he was deter to be ripped apart in the woods with the taste of raccoon still in his h the trees at hi the transition as he jumped In crow forotten too close to hiht breeze And they would never stop coain

He needed to figure out how to kill theood

Chapter 13

"I wish Da at her own reflection in the dark

There are a lot of people I ere here for this, Bonnie thought Alaric had invited everyone to his apart he had new information to share But "everyone" felt like a lot fewer people now than it ever had

Bonnie pulled twothisThey only needed six chairs, maybe five: Bonnie, Elena, Alaric, Matt, and Jasone Meredith ay, and Bonnie hadn’t heard from her for quite a while

Zander and his Pack should have been here, but he was still acting distant, and Bonnie hadn’t seen the rest of the Pack for days She’d texted Zander to coiven an evasive reply She didn’t knohen he’d be home, where he was

Six chairs And it looked like the sixth one would be e and call Damon here?" Bonnie asked

Elena finally turned around and looked at her, shrugging "He tunes "

"Really?" Bonnie asked, distracted froured that the bond between Elena and Damon made them perfectly attuned to each other at all ti Which was totally rohtly creepy

"I tune him out, too," Elena said "We’d drive each other crazy otherwise" She looked a little wistful as she said it

Alaric came in from the kitchen and handed them each a cup of coffee "You won’t believe how much I’ve found," he said

Before Bonnie or Elena could say anything, they heard feet clo up the stairs outside, and Alaric hurried over to open the door Matt and Jase of longing Where was Zander?

"Sorry we’re a little late," Matt said, "but we have so news for you"

Jasreeting "Have you heard anything from Meredith lately?"

"I just talked to her She’s with the hunters, tracking Jack No leads yet She’ll let us know right away if they find hi excited about his news, but he see trouble sleeping without Meredith Zander had been co and turning until he ca alone

"Where’s Zander?" Jasmine asked, as Alaric herded them all toward the table

"He couldn’t coht Jas in Bonnie’s tone, because Matt glanced up at her sharply