Then he did it again, on the other side.
The look in Lady Ulma's eyes made Elena feel more humble than proud. She had saved one woman from terrible degradation. But how many more remained? She would never know, or be able to save them all if she found out. Not with her Power in the state it was now.
"I think Lady Ulma really ought to get some rest," Bonnie said, rubbing her own forehead under tumbled strawberry curls. "And Elena, too. You should have seen how many stitches her leg took, Damon. But what do we do, go look for a hotel?"
"Use my house," said Dr. Meggar, one eyebrow up and one down. Obviously, he had become enmeshed in this story, swept along by its sheer power and beauty - and brutality. "All I ask is that you don't destroy anything, and that if you see a frog, don't kiss it, and don't kill it. There are plenty of blankets and chairs and couches."
He wouldn't take a single link from the heavy gold chain Damon had brought to use as income in exchange.
"I...by rights I should help you all get ready for bed," Lady Ulma murmured faintly to Meredith.
"You're the worst hurt of all; you should get the best bed," Meredith replied tranquilly. "And we will help you get into it."
"The most comfortable bed...that would be in my daughter's old room." Dr. Meggar fumbled with a ring of keys. "She married a porter - how I hated to see her go. And this young lady, Miss Elena, can have the old bridal chamber."
For an instant Elena's heart was torn by conflicting emotions. She was afraid - yes, she was very sure it was fear she felt - that Damon might sweep her up in his arms and make for the bridal suite with her. And on the other hand...
Just then Lakshmi looked up at her uncertainly. "Do you want me to leave?" she asked.
"Do you have anywhere to go?" Elena asked in turn.
"The street, I guess. I usually sleep in a barrel."
"Stay here. Come with me; a bridal bed sounds big enough for two people. You're one of us, now."
The look Lakshmi gave her was one of sheer thunderstruck gratitude. Not at being given a place to stay, Elena understood. For the statement, "You're one of us, now." Elena could feel that Lakshmi had never been "one of" any group before.
Things were quiet until almost "dawn" the next "day," as the city's inhabitants called it, although the light hadn't varied all night.
This time a different sort of crowd had gathered outside the doctor's complex. It was mostly made up of elderly men wearing threadbare but clean robes - but there were a few old women, too. They were led by a silver-haired man who had a strange air of dignity.
Damon, with Sage as backup, went outside the doctor's complex and spoke to them.
Elena was dressed but still upstairs in the quiet bridal suite.
Dear Diary,
Oh, God, I need help! Oh, Stefan - I need you. I need you to forgive me. I need you to keep me sane. Too much time around Damon and I'm completely emotional, ready to kill him or to...or to - I don't know. I don't know!!! We're like flint and tinder together - God! We're like gasoline and a flamethrower! Please hear me and help me and save me...from myself. Every time he even says my name...
"Elena."
The voice behind Elena made her jump. She slammed the diary shut and turned around.
"Yes, Damon?"
"How are you feeling?"
"Oh, great. Fine. Even my leg is b - I mean, I'm fine all over. How are you feeling?"
"I'm...well enough," he said, and he smiled - and it was a real smile, not a snarl twisted into something else at the last second, or an attempt to manipulate. It was just a smile, if a rather worried and sad one.
Elena somehow didn't notice the sadness until she remembered it later. She simply suddenly felt that she weighed nothing; that if she lost grip on herself she could be miles high before anyone could stop her - miles away, maybe even as far as this insane place's moons.
She managed a shaky smile of her own at him. "That's good."
"I came to talk to you," he said, "but...first - "
In another moment, somehow, Elena was in his arms.
"Damon - we can't keep on..." She tried to pull away gently. "We really can't keep doing this, you know."
But Damon didn't let go of her. There was something in the way he held her that half terrified her, and half made her want to cry with joy. She forced back the tears.
"It's all right," Damon said softly. "Go ahead and cry. We've got a situation on our hands."
Something in his voice frightened Elena. Not in the half-joyful way she'd been fearful a minute ago, but entirely frightened.
It's because he's afraid, she thought suddenly in wonderment. She had seen Damon angry, wistful, cold, mocking, seductive - even subdued, ashamed - but she had never seen him afraid of anything. She could hardly get her mind around the concept. Damon...frightened...for her.
"It's because of what I did yesterday, isn't it?" she asked. "Are they going to kill me?" She was surprised at how calmly she said it. She felt nothing except a vague distress and the desire to make Damon not afraid anymore.
"No!" He held her at arm's length, staring. "At least not without killing me and Sage - and all the people in this house, too, if I know them." He stopped, seeming out of breath - which was impossible, Elena reminded herself. He's playing for time, she thought.
"But that's what they want to do," she said. She didn't know why she was so certain. Maybe she was picking up something telepathically.
"They have...made threats," Damon said slowly. "It's not the case of Old Drohzne really; I guess there are murders around here all the time and winner takes all. But apparently overnight word of what you did has been spreading. Slaves in nearby estates are refusing to obey their masters. This entire quarter of the slums is in turmoil - and they're afraid of what will happen if other sectors hear about it. Something has to be done as soon as possible or the whole Dark Dimension may just explode like a bomb."