tugging insistently at the corners of her mind. And in the middle of this danger, she repeatedly sensed Damon’s dark, fiery presence.
Frowning, she began to type again.
Wherever you are now, Damon, please be careful. I just know that something is wrong. I’ve tried and tried to find out what it is—stretched my Guardian Powers to their limit and even called Andrés in Costa Rica to see if he knew a way to pinpoint what I’m sensing—but I can’t figure it out.
All I know is that something awful is going to happen. And, somehow, you’re involved. Please, Damon, be careful. I need you to be safe.
Elena hit “send” on the e-mail just as a key rattled in the lock. Sammy leaped from the couch in one smooth flow of movement. Elena jumped up, too, and hurried toward the door.
“Stefan!” she exclaimed, pulling it open. “Welcome home!”
Even though Stefan felt as familiar and as essential as breathing by now, sometimes the sight of him still knocked Elena back a step. He was just so beautiful, with his classical Roman profile, his dark curls that made her want to tangle her fingers in them. His bottom lip dipped into a sensual curve as he smiled at her, his face opening in a way only Elena ever got to see, and she ran forward to kiss him. She threw all her love into the kiss and felt Stefan’s love in response, warm and reassuring.
Sammy twined around their ankles, sniffing Stefan, and then stalked away, his tail waving.
Finally Elena pulled back to look Stefan over and saw that, despite the dark shadows under his leaf-green eyes, his face was serene. The hunt had gone well, then. He was safe; Meredith was safe. Elena sighed gratefully and laid her head against Stefan’s shoulder. He was home, and everything would be okay.
His arms tightened around her. The leather of his jacket was smooth under her cheek. Then she felt something sticky against her face. “Stefan?” she asked, pulling back and touching the wet spot on his black leather jacket. Her fingers came away red with blood. “Stefan?” she asked again, her voice rising, and began to feel frantically over his chest and sides, looking for injuries.
“Elena, it’s okay.” Stefan took her hands. “It’s not my blood.” His smile widened. “We killed Celine.”
Elena sucked in a breath of surprise. They’d been hunting Celine for months. She was an Old One, one of the Original vampires—an ancient, vicious monster who’d stalked the night of every continent for countless centuries. Celine was the last of the three Old Ones they’d been able to find traces of, the last they’d needed to kill to make this part of the world safe.
At first, Elena had tracked her with Stefan and Meredith …
“Watch your head,” Stefan told Elena, holding back a trailing vine for her to duck under. Behind it was an ominous, dark opening, the entrance to a hidden cave. Meredith followed them inside, her stave held at shoulder level in one hand, ready to strike. Stefan’s stave dangled more carelessly, held loosely in his grip.
“Celine’s here; I’m sure of it,” Elena said. She could feel the Old One’s presence, could see the trail of Celine’s aura, peacock blue twisted with gold and black, tarnished with the sickening rust red of old blood. “She’s really powerful,” Elena whispered. “And she knows we’re coming.”
“Terrific,” Meredith muttered. They carefully felt their way down the tunnel, half-blind in the darkness, Stefan leading the way. The ground was rocky and uneven underfoot. Elena pressed her hands against the cold stone walls to keep from falling. The tunnel led deeper and deeper underground, and Elena breathed slowly, trying not to think about the tons of earth and stone above her.
“It’s okay,” Stefan murmured, squeezing her hand. “She can’t hurt you.” Nothing supernatural could hurt Elena—a benefit of her Guardian Powers, and one they had to keep secret.
On the silver spikes at the ends of each stave was a telltale darkness—tiny amounts of Elena’s own blood, poison to any Old One. Only her blood would kill Celine; only she could track Celine’s aura. And she could feel her other Guardian Powers readying for the fight, gathering like thunderclouds.
Elena was ready. She wasn’t afraid, she told herself fiercely. Stefan was right. Nothing supernatural could kill her.
They stepped cautiously around a curve in the tunnel and blinked, dazzled by a sudden flood of light. The sun shone through an opening somewhere high overhead, hitting the crystals that studded the cavern’s