The Salvation: Unseen Page 0,15

in great gulps of air. “This ought to be far enough.”

“What the hell do you think—” Elena began hotly.

And that was when her car exploded.

It went up in a great orange ball of flame and an ear-crunching boom, just like in the movies. A heavy cloud of oily black smoke rose from the flames.

Elena’s body felt numb. Her stomach rolled with nausea as she blinked in shock at the dark smoke, the hungry flames.

She’d felt so safe as a Guardian. She didn’t have to worry about getting old, or getting sick, or dying at the hands of vampires, or demons, or werewolves, or any other kind of supernatural being. All she’d had to worry about, Elena had thought, were very human causes of death—a knife, a gun, strangulation.

A car exploding in the street, with her inside.

Her mother had died in a car accident, even though she had been a Guardian, even though she’d been hundreds of years old at least, and Elena wondered why she had never really considered the same thing happening to her. She wrapped her arms around herself, unable to tear her gaze away from the burning car.

The dark-haired guy was standing next to her, watching the fire with a mildly intrigued expression, as if it were a TV show or science experiment. He was only about Elena’s own height but had well-muscled arms and shoulders, like an athlete. “I’m Jack,” he said, seeming to feel Elena’s gaze on him. She automatically gathered her Power and used it to see his aura, which seemed warm and brown, sincere.

“That’s not supposed to happen,” she said, and flushed, because the words sounded stupid to her own ears. “I mean, I read an article about movie clichés, and a lot of it was about how cars almost never explode. Certainly not just from running into a tree.” As she spoke, she felt her heart steady. If they could talk logically about the why and the how, maybe she wouldn’t have to think about the what. The fact that she could have been gone forever, never see Stefan or Damon again.

“It was a telephone pole,” Jack said drily, and then the corners of his mouth turned up in a sudden and unexpected smile. It changed his whole face. He looked friendly and open, and Elena knew her earlier instinct to trust him had been the right one.

She tried to take a step and stumbled, feeling suddenly sick. Jack hurried forward to steady her, concern etched on his face.

“We need to get you home,” he said, his hand under her arm, supporting her. “And you’re right. This doesn’t just happen.” They both turned to look back at the steadily burning car.

“I don’t understand,” she mumbled. She felt like she might laugh, or scream. Possibly she had a concussion, because nothing seemed to be making any sense.

Jack wiped his hand across his face in a quick, nervous gesture. “Elena,” he said, “this was no accident.”

Chapter 7

“I should have been there to protect you,” Stefan said wretchedly, wrapping his arms around Elena and burying his face in her hair. “I’m so sorry.” While he had been relaxing in the apartment, Elena had almost died. And he wouldn’t have even known until the police came to their door.

The world swung dizzyingly, and he clutched at her for balance. The thought of Elena dying was like an endless fall into a dark void. Elena had never been safe, never would be, no matter how many Old Ones he killed.

“There’s nothing you could have done, Stefan,” Elena said calmly, steadying him. She glanced around the room at all of her worried friends. Her eyes landed on the stranger—Jack—who had gotten her out of the car after the crash and brought her home. “It all happened so fast.”

“Thank you for helping,” Stefan said to Jack. Jack nodded pleasantly from his seat on the couch. He seemed to be taking everything in, his dark eyes flicking over the whole group with interest—maybe too much interest. He hadn’t called the police, hadn’t taken Elena to the hospital; he had just brought her home. Jack was an outsider; what did he think was going on?

“The important thing is to make sure that Damon’s all right.” Elena let go of Stefan and sat down beside Jack on the couch, closing her eyes with a little frown. Stefan knew she was reaching for her bond with his brother. He did his best to push down the jealousy that threatened to break the surface.