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standard options.
Elena was still watching him. He was much stronger than she was, and faster,
but if she needed to she thought she could get to the edge of the roof before
he reached her. It was a thirty foot drop if she missed the balcony, but she
might decide to risk it. It all depended on Damon.
"I don't faint," she said shortly. "And why should I scream at you? We were
playing a game. I was stupid that night and so I lost. You warned me in the
graveyard about the consequences."
His lips parted in a quick breath and he looked away. "I may just have to
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make you my Queen of Shadows," he said, and, speaking almost to himself, he
continued: "I've had many companions, girls as young as you and women who were
the beauties of Europe. Butyou're the one I want at my side. Ruling, taking
what we want when we want it. Feared and worshipped by all the weaker souls.
Would that be so bad?"
"Iam one of the weaker souls," Elena said. "And you and I are enemies, Damon.
We can never be anything else."
"Are you sure?" He looked at her, and she could feel the power of his mind as
it touched hers, like the brush of those long fingers. But there was no
dizziness, no feeling of weakness or succumbing. That afternoon she'd had a
long soak, as she always did these days, in a hot bath sprinkled with dried
vervain.
Damon's eyes flashed with understanding, but he took the setback with good
grace. "What are you doing here?" he said casually.
It was strange, but she felt no need to lie to him. "Caroline took something
that belonged to me. A diary. I came to get it back."
A new look flickered in the dark eyes. "Undoubtedly to protect my worthless
brother somehow," he said, annoyed.
"Stefan isn't involved in this!"
"Oh, isn't he?" She was afraid he understood more than she meant him to.
"Strange, he always seems to be involved when there's trouble. Hecreates
problems. Now, if he were out of the picture& "
Elena spoke steadily. "If you hurt Stefan again I'll make you sorry. I'll
find some way to make you wish you hadn't, Damon. I mean it."
"I see. Well, then, I'll just have to work onyou , won't I?"
Elena said nothing. She'd talked herself into a corner, agreeing to play this
deadly game of his again. She looked away.
"I'm going to have you in the end, you know," he said softly. It was the
voice he'd used at the party, when he'd said, "Easy, easy." There was no
mockery or malice now; he was simply stating a fact. "By hook or by crook, as
you people say that's a nice phrase  you'll be mine before the next snow
flies."
Elena tried to conceal the chill she felt, but she knew he saw anyway.
"Good," he said. "You do have some sense. You're right to be afraid of me;
I'm the most dangerous thing you're ever likely to encounter in your life. But
just now I have a business proposition for you."
"Abusiness proposition?"
"Exactly. You came here to get a diary. But you haven't got it." He indicated
her empty hands. "You failed, didn't you?" When Elena made no reply he went
on. "And since you don't want my brotherinvolved , he can't help you. But I
can. And I will."
"You will?"
"Of course. For a price."
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Elena stared at him. Blood flamed in her face. When she managed to get words
out, they would come only in a whisper.
"What price?"
A smile gleamed out of the darkness. "A few minutes of your time, Elena. A
few drops of your blood. An hour or so spent with me, alone."
"You& " Elena couldn't find the right word. Every epithet she knew was too
mild.
"I'll have it anyway, eventually," he said in a reasonable tone. "If you're
honest, you'll admit that to yourself. Last time wasn't the last. Why not
accept that?" His voice dropped to a warm, intimate timbre. "Remember& "
"I'd rather cut my throat," she said.
"An intriguing thought. But I can do it so much more enjoyably."
He was laughing at her. Somehow, on top of everything else today, this was
too much. "You're disgusting; you know that," she said. "You're sickening."
She was shaking now, and she couldn't breathe. "I'd die before I'd give in to
you. I'd rather "
She wasn't sure what made her do it. When she was with Damon a sort of
instinct took over her. And at that moment, she did feel that she'd rather
risk anything than let him win this time. She noticed, with half her mind,
that he was sitting back, relaxed, enjoying the turn his game was taking. The
other half of her mind was calculating how far the roof overhung the balcony.
"I'd rather do this," she said, and flung herself sideways.
She was right; he was off guard and couldn't move fast enough to stop her.
She felt free space below her feet and spinning terror as she realized the
balcony was farther back than she'd thought. She was going to miss it.
But she hadn't reckoned on Damon. His hand shot out, not quick enough to keep
her on the roof, but keeping her from falling any farther. It was as if her
weight was nothing to him. Reflexively, Elena grasped the shingled edge of the
roof and tried to get a knee up. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]