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Elena stepped through the door and then back out There was nothing stopping her "Do you think he’s got a hued "Must be It wouldn’t stop the vaht Just like sunlight or running water or stakes," Elena agreed The security guard was peering suspiciously at theot it," she said loudly and nonsensically Da at her like she was insane, so she flicked her eyes toward the outer door "Let’s go get it"

"New plan," she said, once they were outside and out of sight of the guard "Draw reed, if he kept the poison anywhere in the building, his private office would be the most likely place The journal had been there

Da in alone, Elena knew But it was the only solution "You’ll be careful?" he asked reluctantly

"Of course" Elena forced a smile as she took the keycard from his hand "Make me that map"

Her heels seemed to echo unnaturally loudly as she walked across the lobby a second tiuard paid no attention as she used the keycard to pass through the automatic door

Once the elevator doors had safely shut between them, Elena took a deep breath and pulled the map Damon had made out of her attaché case Up to the fourth floor

The elevator doors opened onto a sleek and e It was coht

The route Daed rats and through a corridor lined with cubicles She gripped her attaché case in one hand It was partly intended for ca to put the poison in if--no, when, she told herself fiercely--she found it

She hoped it was in Jack’s office, she thought, frowning through aoverlooking a laboratory full of medical equipment

Lifetime Solutions looked just like any kind ofa little hts were on everywhere, fluorescent bulbs hu up above her Even a few cole person, not until she turned the corner of the hall that led to Jack’s office

There was aat a desk outside Jack’s office, a stack of papers in front of hi her, his head up and his eyes fixed on where she approached

He must have heard her footsteps Human? Elena wondered Vampire? She hadn’t been particularly stealthy, and the office was quiet It was perfectly reasonable that he ht have heard her, even if he lacked any special powers

Elena tried to slow her heartbeat, to calm herself down, and kept the smile fixed on her face as she approached hier look cross his face for just a moment, the expression of a predator who scented prey Was she i it?

As she came to a halt in front of his desk, he smiled back up at her, a bland, professional smile "Kann ich der helfen, bitte?" he asked politely

Oh no They spoke e in Switzerland, didn’t they? She hadn’t accounted for that in her plans At dinner, Dalish She could only remember a few phrases froh to be sure this va French

"Jack sent me for some papers from his office," she said She kept her voice level and the smile pinned to her face Did she look as fake as she felt? She tried to channel the persona she had used in the time she’d worked as an executive assistant: calhtly bored "I’ve coinia, in the United States It’s very ih the h the ht, and justa step backward

The va on an even ain, his voice was perfectly cordial "Certainly, Miss What does Dr Daltry require?"

All of sudden, it was like so clicked into place, and her Guardian Power bloo inside hi the rhythms of the vampire’s heart andup again

"Listen carefully," she told him, and there was a funny, deep echo behind her words, as if so in ti into a faint smile, and Elena could see that he wanted to obey her

She wondered…

"Why don’t you come with me?" she said, and the echo was still there "Help me look"

With perfect readiness, the valanced around hurriedly She was fizzing with nervous excitement She’d never been able to compel anyone to do what she wanted before Would this work on everyone? Only on vampires? If her control snapped, he would kill her, she was sure She forced herself to concentrate, holding onto her Power over him

There On the other side of the hall was a plain white door with a bolt She walked over to it, the va her docilely It was a supply closet, its shelves neatly lined with envelopes of various sized pads of paper, boxes of paper clips and staples It was like any supply closet in any office in the world, and Elena felt a funny little pang at the sight of it It had been good, working in an office, living the daylit life with Stefan She wouldn’t ever be that girl again

"Go in," she told the va to the echo of Power behind her oords He hesitated, though, a s between the force of Elena’s command and his natural inclinations "Go on," she said, and tried to put an extra force of will behind it She could feel hiritted her teeth and pushed

The vampire’s face smoothed out "Yes, fräulein" He stepped forward, into the closet

"Stay," Elena said hurriedly "You’re fine there You won’t need anything"

She closed the door quietly behind hih, and that it would still hen she wasn’t standing right there next to hih to hold a vaain and went into Jack’s office, shutting the door behind her She leaned against it for a oodness, and she turned the latch as quietly as she could, her hands shaking