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Since then I haven’t dared look hio I didn’t know that love could turn to - well, to all the things he feels now about himself

You’d think it would be easy for Daain But he wants to be as powerful a vampire as he used to be - and there isn’t anyone like that to exchange blood with hie disappeared before Damon could ask hi, powerful, and prestigious va him

And every tireen eyes that are ith trust and gratitude - I feel terror, too

Terror that soht out of my arms Andterror that he’ll find out how I’ve come to feel about Damon I hadn’t even realized myself how much Damon has cofor him, even if he hates ! In a , but when Matt tried to take hi earlier today, Damon threw the whole tray at him

Oh, please, God, please don’t let hi about what’s going on with Das in Fell’s Church are worse than ever Every day more children becoet angrier with their possessed children I don’t even want to think about what’s going on If soe, the whole place will be destroyed like the last town Shinichi and Misao visited

Shinichihe s we’ve kept secret from the others But the truth is, I don’t know if I want to hear any of his riddles solved

We’re lucky in one way We have the Saitou family to help us You remember Isobel Saitou, who pierced herself so horribly while she was possessed? Since she’s gotten better, she’s becorandive us amulets - spells to keep evil aritten on Post-it Notes or little cards We’re so grateful for that kind of help

Someday maybe we can repay the her diaryabout

Soed to make herself walk downstairs to the kitchen and take the dinner tray froly at her

As she set out for the boardinghouse’s storage roo so that the entire tray of food she was carrying jingled Since there was no access to the storage rooo out the front door and around to the addition tacked on near the kitchen garden Da it now

As she passed the garden Elena glanced sideways at the hole in the elica patch that was the powered-down Gatehere they’d coe roo, and she knew that was not the right way to face Damon

Just relax, she told herself Think of Stefan

Stefan had had a gri left of the rose, but he had soon recovered his usual hu that he was thankful just to be there with her That this closeness was al he asked of life Clean clothes, decent food - freedo for, but Elena was the most important And Elena had cried

On the other hand, she knew that Daht do anything, risk anythingto change hiested the star bal as a solution for Damon’s condition Matt hadn’t understood either the rose or the star bal until it was explained that this star bal , which was probably Misao’s, contained within it most or al of her Power, and that it had become more bril iant as it absorbed the lives that she took The black rose had probably been created with a liquid from a similar star bal - but no one kne redients Matt had frowned and asked, if the rose could change a vae a human to a vampire?

Elena hadn’t been the only one to see the slow rising of Dalith of the room to the star bal fil ed with Power Elena could practical y hear his logic Matt ht be total y off trackbut there was one place a human could be sure to find powerful vampires In the Dark Dihouse’s garden

The Gateas closed right nowfor lack of Power

Unlike Stefan, Damon would have absolutely no qualms about ould happen if he had to use al the star bal ’s liquid, which would result in the death of Misao After al , she was one of the two foxes who had abandoned Stefan to be tortured

So all bets were off

Okay, you’re scared; now deal with it, Elena told herself fiercely Damon’s been in that room for almost fifty hours now and who knohat he’s been plotting to do to get hold of the star balStil , soet him to eat - and when you say "so at the door so long that her knees were starting to lock She took a deep breath and knocked

There was no answer, and no light went on inside Damon was human It was quite dark outside now

"Damon?"It was ht

Elena sed He had to be in there

Elena knocked harder Nothing Final y, she tried the knob

To her horror it was unlocked, and it swung open to reveal an interior as dark as the night around Elena, like the maw of a pit

The fine hairs at the back of Elena’s neck were standing up

"Daed in a bare whisper, as if to convince herself by her quietness that there was nobody there "I’l be silhouetted against the very edge of the porch light I can’t see anything, so you have al the advantages I’ a tray with very hot coffee, cookies, and steak tartar, no seasonings You should be able to sh Elena’s senses told her that there was no one standing directly in front of her, waiting for her to literal y run into hiht Start with baby steps Step one Step two Step three - I must be wel into the roo Step four

A strong arrip around her waist, and a knife pressed against her throat

Elena saw blackness shot with a sudden gray network, after which the dark closed in overwhelly