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The door was hanging wide open

Matt dropped his bags, hearing the wine bottle inside one of the bags s He barreled through the front door and stopped dead, horrified

Jas room had been trashed The velvety-soft sofa was flipped over and dises she’d put on the walls were ripped down, her tables knocked over and broken

"Jas out of his shock He raced down the hall, checking the other rooms

The kitchen, bathroo smashed and broken The closet door had been ripped off, clothes trailing out as if so yanked out of the closet "Jas JASMINE, the display read Thank God She was okay She would have some explanation Tension flowed out of hi

"Where are you?" Matt answered the phone "Are you okay?"

A loar went fuzzy around the edges, and Matt swayed on his feet, lightheaded Jack

"I’irlfriend seeh"

"You--" Matt clenched his teeth, snapping things back into focus "I’ll kill you if you hurt her," he spat

Jack laughed again "You can’t, can you?" he asked "You know, I didn’t really get to know Jasether I can see why you like her She’s pretty tasty, isn’t she?" He moved the phone, and Matt heard a soft whi to hear "Honey, be strong It’ll be all right" His pulse was pounding, his hands sweating He couldn’t think

"She’s fine," Jack said "For now"

"Please don’t hurt her," Matt said "I’ll do anything you want" He felt sick and dizzy Not Jas Jasht her in

"I want Da o"

Chapter 25

"She’s got to be sootten away froainst her te hard, her pretty face twisted "If I could just find her…"

"Calhway, still heading north It seeh Elena had lost Siobhan’s trail earlier that day "We’ll pull into the next ht’s rest It’ll co shadows across the road If Elena ate and rested,trouble, too Anxiety radiated through their bond, , her ed to pull her against hiainst his shoulder and hold her until she calmed

"We can’t stop," Elena said firainst theand shut her eyes, h her nose, then let the to force her Guardian Powers to the surface They were strong, but fickle, these Powers Even when she orking on a Guardian task, like now, she couldn’t always rely on thee Powers themselves, more than any vampire or witch, but they meted out tiny bits of Power to the Earthly Guardians like drips from a faucet Damon had to wonder: Did the Celestial Guardians want to keep Earthly Guardians like Elena weak and dependent on them? Or were their oers on Earth limited?

In any case, itwas Elena

"Listen," he said, and reached out to stroke her ar as hell, princess The strongest person I’ve ever met You’ll do this stubborn and bull-headed, just like you’ve done everything else the whole tirin, and so softened in Elena’s eyes They stared at each other for a long aze so deeply blue, as blue as the lapis lazuli that let Dahtened, and he felt it tug toward Elena, as sure as ain ti in perfect accord He couldn’t resist her anymore

He didn’t want to resist Elena was all he wanted, all he needed She had been since the first ti sunshine, all pink and gold and flushed with the warmth of life Since the first time his mind brushed hers, and he realized she wasand fierce, stubborn and proud Perfect for hi her time to pull away, Daaze, her blue eyes al She wanted this; he could feel that want burning through their bond Gently, holding his breath, he pressed his lips to hers

Her lips were i he’d ever felt Da her cheek with one hand The connection between theled in her silky hair, and he pulled her closer still

He could feel their auras blending It was as if they wereinto each other He could almost see them, the way Elena had described their auras to hiold They were entwining--he could feel it They were stronger like this, better together

Daht away Stefan was gone And Damon and Elena remained He stroked Elena’s cheek, ran his hand over her shoulders, down her arm She was his, he knew it as surely as he’d ever known anything They belonged to each other

And then, a sharp, hard jerk All over, he felt exposed, strained So

With a ainst Elena’shis aura into hers, his peacock blue slowly shading to gold Her aura was growing bigger, brighter

It hurt, a little, but it was sohtheaded, ainst her lips Was this how it felt for her when he’d fed on her?

Just as when he’d fed on her, this was love, he was sure of it

Daled both hands in Elena’s hair, silken strands between his fingers, and tried to push his aura toward her, to give her whatever she needed