It was as if she had been transported back in time, back to the days when Damon had first appeared to her, had first claimed her for his own. When she had almost let him kiss her before she knew his name….
He hadn’t changed his ideas since then. Vaguely, Elena remembered thinking something like that before. Damon changed other people while remaining unchanged himself.
But I’ve changed, Elena thought, and suddenly there was quicksand under her feet. I’ve changed so much since then. Enough to see things in Damon I’d never imagined could be there. Not just the wild and angry dark parts, but the gentle parts. The honor and decency that were trapped like veins of gold inside that stone boulder in his mind.
I have to help him, Elena thought. Somehow, I have to help him — and the little boy chained outside the boulder.
These thoughts had trickled slowly through her mind while it seemed separated from her body. She was so involved with them, in fact, that she somehow lost track of her body, and only now did she realize how much closer Damon had gotten. Her back was against one of the sad, sagging cars. And Damon was speaking lightly, but with an undertone of seriousness.
“A rose for a kiss, then?” he asked. “It is called Black Magic, and I did come by it honestly. Her name was…it was…”
Damon stopped, and for a moment a look of intense bewilderment flashed across his face. Then he smiled, but it was the warrior’s smile, the brilliant one he turned on and off almost before you were sure you had seen it. Elena sensed trouble. Sure, Damon still didn’t remember Matt’s name correctly, but she had never known him to forget a girl’s name when he was really trying to remember. Especially within minutes of when he must have fed from that girl.
Shinichi again? Elena wondered. Was he still taking Damon’s memories — only the highlights, of course? The thrills, good or bad? Elena knew that Damon himself was thinking the same thing. His black eyes were smoldering. Damon was furious — but there was a certain vulnerability about his fury.
Without thinking, Elena put her hands on Damon’s forearms. She ignored the rose, even as he traced the curve of her cheekbone with it. She tried to speak steadily. “Damon, what are we going to do?”
That was the scene that Matt walked in on. Ran in on, actually. He came weaving through a maze of cars, and dashed around a white SUV with one flat tire, shouting, “Hey, you guys, that Prius is…”
And then he stopped dead.
Elena knew what he was seeing: Damon caressing her with the rose, while she was practically embracing him. She let go of Damon’s arms, but she couldn’t back away from him because of the car behind her.
“Matt—” Elena began, and then her voice trailed off. She had been about to say “This isn’t what it looks like. We’re not in the middle of a cuddle. I’m not really touching him.” But this was what it looked like. She cared about Damon; she had been trying to get through to him….
With a small shock, that thought repeated itself with the force of a shaft of sunlight shooting through an unprotected vampire’s body.
She cared about Damon.
She really did. It was usually difficult being with him because they were alike in so many ways. Headstrong, each wanting their own way, passionate, impatient…
She and Damon were alike.
Small shocks were going though Elena, and her entire body felt weak. She found herself glad to lean against the car behind her, even though it must be getting dust all over her clothes.
I love Stefan, she thought almost hysterically. He’s the only one I love. But I need Damon to get to him. And Damon may be falling to pieces in front of me.
She was looking at Matt all the while, her eyes full of tears that would not fall. She blinked, but they stubbornly stayed on her lashes.
“Matt…” she whispered.
He said nothing. He didn’t need to. It was all in his expression: astonishment turning to something Elena had never seen before, not when he was looking at her.
It was a sort of alienation that shut her out completely, that severed any bonds between them.
“Matt, no…” But it came out in a whisper.
And then, to her astonishment, Damon spoke.
“You do know it’s all me, don’t you? You can hardly blame a girl for trying to defend herself.” Elena looked at her hands, which were shaking now. Damon was going on, “You know it’s all my fault. Elena would never—”
That was when Elena realized. Damon was Influencing Matt.
“No!” She took Damon off guard, grabbing him again, shaking him. “Don’t do it! Not to Matt!”
The black eyes that were turned on hers were definitely not those of a suitor. Damon had been interrupted in the use of his Power. If it had been anyone else, they would have ended as a small spot of grease on the ground.
“I’m saving you,” Damon said coldly. “Are you refusing me?”
Elena found herself wavering. Maybe, if it was only once, and only for Matt’s benefit…
Something surged up inside her. It was all she could do not to let her aura escape completely.
“Never try that on me again,” Elena said. Her voice was quiet but icy. “Don’t you dare ever try to Influence me! And leave Matt alone!”
Something like approval flickered in the endless darkness of Damon’s gaze. It was gone before she could be sure she’d seen it. But when he spoke, he seemed less distant.
“All right,” he said to Matt. “What’s the game plan now? You name it.”
Matt answered slowly, not looking at either of them. He was flushed but deadly calm. “I was going to say, that Prius isn’t bad at all.
And the dealer guy has another one. It’s in okay condition. We could have two cars just alike.”
“And then we could caravan and split up if someone was following us! They won’t know which to follow.” Normally Elena would have thrown her arms around Matt at this point. But Matt was looking at his shoes, which was probably just as well really, since Damon had his eyes shut and was shaking his head slightly as if he couldn’t believe something idiotic.
That’s right, Elena thought. It’s my aura — or Damon’s — that they’re homing in on. We can’t confuse them with identical cars unless we have identical auras, too.
Which really meant that she should drive with Matt the whole way. But Damon would never accept that. And she needed Damon to get to her beloved, her one and only, her true mate: Stefan.
“I’ll take the ratty one,” Matt was saying, arranging it with Damon and ignoring her. “I’m used to ratty cars. I already arranged a deal with the guy. We should get going.” Still speaking only to Damon, he said, “You’ll have to tell me where we’re really going. We might get separated.”
Damon was silent for a long moment. Then, brusquely, he said, “Sedona, Arizona, for a start.”
Matt looked disgusted. “That place full of New Age lunatics? You’re kidding.”
“I said we’ll start out from Sedona. It’s complete wilderness — nothing but rock — all around it. You could get lost…very easily.” Damon flashed the brilliant smile and instantly turned it off.
“We’ll be at the Juniper Resort, off North Highway 89A,” he added smoothly.
“I’ve got it,” Matt said. Elena could see no emotion in either his face or his expression, but his aura was seething red.
“Now, Matt,” Elena began, “we should really meet every night, so if you just follow us—” She broke off with a sharply inhaled breath.
Matt had already turned around. He didn’t turn back when she spoke. He just kept going, without another word.
Without a backward glance.