that although he was a new-made vampire, he was exceptional y strong and he knew al the tricks of an experienced one. Elena felt as if she had stepped into clear calm water, only to find herself caught in a fierce undertow that there was no resisting; no bargaining with; and certainly no possibility of reaching by reason. She had no choice but to surrender to it and hope that it was taking her, eventual y, to a place she could breathe and live. Otherwise, she would drown...but even that possibility didn't seem so dire, now that she could see the tide was made of a chain of little moments strung like pearls. In each one of them was a tiny sparkle of admiration that Damon had for her: pearls for her courage, for her intel igence, for her beauty. It seemed that there was no slightest motion she had made, no briefest word that she had said, that he had not noticed and locked in his heart as a treasure.
But we were fighting then, Elena thought to him, seeing in the undertow a sparkling moment when she had cursed him.
Yes - I said you were magnificent when you were angry.
Like a goddess come to put the world to rights.
I do want to put the world to rights. No, two worlds: the Dark Dimension and my home. But I'm no goddess.
Suddenly she felt that keenly. She was a schoolgirl who hadn't even finished high school - and it was in part because of the person who was kissing her wildly now.
Oh, think of what you're learning on this trip! Things that no one else in the universe knows, Damon said in her mind.
Now pay attention to what you're doing!
Elena paid attention, not because Damon wanted her to, but because she couldn't help it. Her eyes drifted shut. She realized that the way to calm this maelstrom was to become part of it, neither giving in nor forcing Damon to, but by meeting the passion in the undertow with what was inside her own heart.
As soon as she did, the undertow became wind, and she was flying and not drowning. No, it was better than flying, better than dancing, it was what her heart always yearned for.
A high Stillplace where nothing could ever harm them or disturb them.
And then, when she was most vulnerable, the pain came again, dril ing through her chest, a little to the left. This time Damon was so mindlocked with her that he felt it from the beginning. And she could hear clearly a phrase in Damon's mind: staking is just as effective on humans as it is on vampires, and his sudden fear that this was a precognition.
In the swaying little room, Stefan was asleep holding Bonnie by his side, with the sparkling of Power engulfing them both.
Elena, who had a good grip on the palanquin's ladder, vaulted the rest of the way inside. She put a hand on Stefan's shoulder and he woke.
"What is this? Is something wrong with her?"she asked, with a third question: "Do you know?"buzzing around in her head.
But when Stefan lifted his green eyes to her, they were simply worried. Clearly he was not invading her thoughts. He was focused entirely on Bonnie. Thank God, he's such a gentleman, Elena thought for the thousandth time.
"I'm trying to get her warm,"Stefan said. "After she came out of trance, she was shivering. Then she stopped shivering, but when I took her hand, it was colder than ever. Now I've put an envelope of heat around her. I guess I dozed off for a little while after that."He added, "Did you find anything?"
I found Damon's lips, Elena thought wildly, but she forced herself to blank out the memory. "We're looking for Lake Silver Death Mirror,"she said. "But al I could see was white.
The snow and the fog seem to go on forever."
Stefan nodded. Then he careful y went through the motions of plucking apart two layers of air and slid in a hand to touch Bonnie's cheek. "She's warming up,"he said, and smiled.
It took a long while before Stefan was satisfied that Bonnie was warm. When he did, he gently unwrapped her from the heated air that had formed the "envelope"and lay her on one bench, coming to sit with Elena on the other. Eventual y Bonnie sighed, blinked, and opened her eyes.
"I had a nap,"she said, obviously aware that she had lost time.
"Not exactly,"Elena said, keeping her voice gentle and reassuring. Let's