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Ethan had Chloe, was holding her tightly in his arms like a parody of a lover’s embrace Matt moaned deep in his throat and strained toward her, but he couldn’t move, couldn’t even open his e brown eyes were fixed on his, and they were fil ed with terror As Ethan bent his head to her neck, Matt held her gaze and tried to send Chloe a coe with his eyes

It’s okay, Chloe, he thought Please, it won’t hurt for long Be strong Chloe whiaze was the only thing keeping her fro his eyes on hers and his breathing slow, Matt tried to emanate calmness, tried to soothe Chloe, as hisEthan, there were fifteen Vitales Al of the quietly fro Ethan take the lead and sire the pledges

The bodies of four of the pledges lay at Ethan’s feet now They’d be out of the picture for several hours at least, their bodies going through the transition that would take the Matt and Chloe, there were six pledges left The longer Matt waited to fight back, the worse the odds would get

But what could Matt do? If only he could break this involuntary stil ness, if only he weren’t a helpless prisoner

He tried again to ht arm His muscles tensed with effort, but after about thirty seconds of trying, he stopped in disgust He was exhausting hi an inch

Whatever held hiure out a way to get free, then he’d be able to grab a torch frohed heavily in his pants pocket

Va off their heads would kil theh to pul Chloe and whichever other pledges he could grab out of the rooht the

But if he couldn’t break this spel or co him in place, any plan he came up ould be useless

Ethan raised his head fro out of her throat, and licked gently at the red blood trickling from the wound in her neck "I knoeetheart," he murmured, "but it’s only for a lazed over and fluttered shut, but she was stil breathing, stil alive There was stil a chance for her

At Ethan’s feet, Anna stirred and moaned As Matt watched in horror, her eyes snapped open, and she looked up at Ethan, her expression confused but adoring

No! Matt thought It’s too soon!

As if he had caught the thought, Ethan turned to Matt and winked "The herbs in the mixture you al drank worked to thin your blood and speed up your metabolism," he said, his voice as casual and friendly as if they were chatting in the cafeteria "I wasn’t sure if it would work, but it looks like it does Makes the transition go a lot faster" His smile widened "I’m a biochem major, you know" Ethan’s mouth was smeared with blood, and Matt shuddered but couldn’t look away froolden eyes that held his

It’s possible, Matt thought for the first tiht not survive this His stomach rol ed with nausea He real y didn’t want to becoes aking up so soon, the already slim odds would quickly become impossible New vampires, he remembered from Elena’s transforry, and fanatical y coed them

Ethan lowered his head to bite at Chloe’s neck again, as Anna clirace On the other side of the altar, Stuart was now beginning to stir, one long leg shifting restlessly against the dark wood of the floor

His throat burning with unvoiced sobs of frustration, Matt felt his last flain to flicker and die There was no escape