Damon was opening his mouth to answer when a sound in the distance made him pause. He cocked his head to listen and heard it again: the crackle of footsteps on dry leaves, coming toward them, fast. "They've found us," he hissed.
He pulled his Power around him quickly, fiercely concentrating on the sensation of his own form dissolving and compacting. His bones thinned and reformed within him, changing shape, his fingers spreading into wings as his toes curled into claws. He had a moment to feel grateful for Katherine's blood: This was difficult to manage when he wasn't feeding regularly.
Then Damon, in the form of a crow, stretched his glossy black wings and rose past tree branches into the sky. He could feel the currents of air behind him shifting as Katherine took silent flight in the shape of a snowy owl.
They had escaped their enemies once more, for now. But Damon knew they couldn't keep going forever. Sooner or later, they would have to fight.
It was a warm, clear night. An almost-full moon shone overhead, and the scent of night-blooming jasmine rose up to Stefan on the balcony outside their apartment.
But Stefan wasn't here to appreciate the beauty of the evening. He sent out tendrils of his Power, questing, trying to sense whatever was out there. Why was he so weak?
Maybe Damon was right; maybe it was worth drinking human blood regularly for the strength it would give him. Stefan drank Elena's blood sometimes, and she drank his, but it was an act of love, not a feeding. He didn't take enough to make him strong. He swiped his hand across his face, irritated with himself, and tried to focus.
He couldn't sense anything. There was an Old One after Elena, who knew the loophole in her immortality and was sending humans after her. Stefan gripped the edge of the balcony and felt the metal begin to buckle beneath his hand. Conscientiously, he forced his fingers to relax. They didn't want to lose their security deposit.
Was that a footstep below, too light for human ears to hear? He froze, listening. The night was alive with a thousand sounds: insects buzzing, the soft beats of a bat's wings, the distant sound of traffic.
Again, almost right below, a footstep on the grass. Without stopping to think, Stefan launched himself over the rail, his canines lengthening as he leaped.
The warm, solid body beneath him let out a huff of surprise as he hit it, both of them slamming down on the ground. Human, he automatically classified, even as he reached for the throat.
It didn't matter. Human or not, he had to keep this person from Elena. But the realization slowed him a little, long enough for the figure underneath him to twist and kick hard at Stefan's chest. Stefan slammed him back onto the ground, baring his fangs-and then realized the person beneath him was Jack. For an instant, he didn't think he could stop. He didn't want to stop. Jack's heart was pounding, and Stefan's canines were sharp with anticipation. It would be easy.
He let go and rolled to one side. Jack lay flat on the ground, panting, one hand pressed against his chest.
"You're heavy," he said finally.
"I'm sorry." Stefan climbed to his feet and offered Jack a hand up. "I didn't realize it was you. I've been a little tense lately."
He could still hear Jack's heart beating, hard and fast, as he rose. Stefan averted his eyes from the vein at the side of Jack's neck, ignoring the thought of the rich blood rushing quickly beneath the skin. He needed to go out to the woods and feed properly, but guarding Elena was more important.
Jack brushed off his pants, which were covered with dirt. "Didn't mean to startle you. I'm just patrolling, keeping an eye out."
"I attacked too quickly," Stefan said, guilt slamming heavily into him. "I should have made sure of who you were before I jumped on you."
"Hey, don't worry about it." Jack waved a dismissive hand, although Stefan noticed he winced as he cautiously rolled his neck, checking to see if he was injured. "Guarding Elena is the important thing. Plus, I could totally take you down if I had to."
Stefan smiled dutifully at the joke, then stared out into the darkness, watching and listening. Far off, a car started up and drove in the opposite direction. There was no one else nearby that he could sense. "He's all I can think about," he said. "Solomon, I mean." Jack nodded, and Stefan went on. "We'd gotten to where the Old Ones weren't coming after Elena anymore. I was hunting them instead. I thought all this was over."
His hands curled into fists, and he felt his canines press sharp against his lips again, ready to bite. "We don't know where he is, and he's coming after Elena. I want to rip out his throat." Stefan glanced at Jack, feeling oddly ashamed at the admission.
Jack patted Stefan lightly on the shoulder. "This is normal, Stefan," he said reassuringly. "You feel this way because you're a warrior. Even though you're a vampire, you're a hunter, too. That means you're always prepared for a fight. And you have something worth fighting to protect."
Stefan looked up at the darkened windows of their apartment. Extending his Power, he could feel Elena sleeping deeply, her dreams troubled, but her breathing even. Jack was right, he thought. Elena was Stefan's to protect. She was worth fighting for.
Chapter 13
"So the patient came in complaining of chest pains, but when we hooked him up to the EKG, he told us he'd changed his mind and that the pain was in his legs." Jasmine came out of her bedroom, holding a long golden necklace around her neck. "Can you fasten this for me?"
"Uh-huh," Matt said, looking out the window at the darkening sky. He had promised to meet Elena and the others at Dalcrest at nine, so they could canvass the hills around campus before midnight, when Solomon would show to meet the humans he'd influenced.