more relaxed?"he asked.
"Yes, thank you."Weirder and weirder. Even her voice sounded slow and dragging.
"I wanted to make sure nobody was too hard on you for the sil y mistake about Elena,"he explained.
"They weren't, real y,"she said. "Actual y everybody was more interested in seeing you and Matt fight - "Bonnie put a hand over her mouth. "Oh, no! I didn't mean to say that! I'm so sorry!"
"It's al right. It should heal by tomorrow."
Bonnie couldn't imagine why anyone would be so afraid of Damon, who was so nice as to pick up her mug of tea and say he'd put it in the sink. That was good because she was feeling as if she couldn't get up to save her life. That cozy.
That comfy.
"Bonnie, can I ask you just one little thing?"Damon paused. "I can't tel you why, but...I have to find out where Misao's star bal is kept,"he said earnestly.
"Oh...that,"Bonnie said fuzzily. She giggled.
"Yes, that. And I am truly sorry to ask you, because you're so very young and innocent...but I know you'l tel me the truth."
After this praise and comfort, Bonnie felt she could fly. "It's been in the same place al the time,"she said with sleepy disgust. "They tried to make me think they'd moved it...but when I saw him chained and going down to the root cel ar I knew they hadn't real y."In the dark, there was a short shake of curls and then a yawn. "If they were real y going to move it...they should have sent me away or something."
"Wel , maybe they were concerned for your life."
"Wha'?..."Bonnie yawned again, not sure what he meant. "I mean, an old, old safe with a combination? I told them...that those old safes...could be...real y be...easy to... to..."Bonnie let out a sound like a sigh and her voice stopped.
"I'm glad we had this talk,"Damon murmured in the silence.
There was no answer from the bed.
Pul ing Bonnie's sheet up as high as it would go, he let it drift down. It covered most of her face. "Requiescat in pace,"Damon said softly. Then he left her room, not forgetting to take the mug.
Now... "him chained and going down to the root cellar."
Damon mused as he washed out the mug careful y and put it back in the cupboard. The line sounded strange but he had almost al the links now, and it was actual y simple. Al he needed were twelve more of Mrs. Flowers's sleeping cachets and two plates heaped with raw beef. He had al the ingredients...but he'd never heard of a root cel ar.
Shortly thereafter, he opened the door to the basement.
Nope. Didn't match the criteria for "root cel ar"he'd looked up on his mobile. Irritated and knowing that any moment someone was likely to wander downstairs for something, Damon turned around in frustration. There was an elaborately carved wooden panel across from the basement, but nothing else.
Curse it, he would not be thwarted at this point. He would have his life as a vampire back, or he didn't want any life at al !
To punctuate the sentiment, he slammed a fist against the wooden panel in front of him.
The knock sounded hollow.
Immediately al frustration vanished. Damon examined the panel very careful y. Yes, there were hinges at the very edge, where no sane person would expect them. It wasn't a panel but a door - undoubtedly to the root cel ar where the star bal was.
It didn't take long for his sensitive fingers - even his human fingers were more sensitive than most - to find a place that clicked - and then the whole door swung open. He could see the stairs. He tucked his parcel under one arm and descended.
By the il umination of the smal flashlight he'd taken from the storage room, the root cel ar was just as described: a damp, earthy room to store fruit and vegetables before refrigerators had been invented. And the safe was just as Bonnie had said: an ancient, rusty combination safe, which any whiz cracker could have opened in about sixty seconds. It would take Damon about six minutes, with his stethoscope (he'd heard once that you could find anything in the boardinghouse if you looked hard enough and it seemed to be true) and every atom of his being concentrating on hearing the tumblers quietly click.
First, however, there was the Beast to conquer. Saber the black hel hound had unfolded, awake and alert from the moment the secret door had opened. Undoubtedly, they