The Vampire Diaries: The Salvation: Unseen Read Online Free PDF Page A

the stars. He felt someone sit down beside him, and shifted over to make room for Katherine.
    “It’s a nice night,” she said, and Damon nodded.
    “Clear, too.” He pointed. “Polaris, the North Star,” he said. “Leda, the Swan. They don’t change, any more than we do.”
    Katherine laughed, a high, silvery sound like the ringing of a bell. “Oh,
we
change,” she said. “Just look at us.”
    It was true, Damon thought, smiling despite himself at the challenge in her eyes. He’d known quite a few Katherines: the shy, clinging girl he’d met back home when he was human and she was newly made; the madwoman who’d pursued him to Fell’s Church; and then this harder, brighter Katherine who had become, strangely, a friend. And he wasn’t the angry young vampire who had woken on a cold stone slab beside his brother all those centuries ago, not anymore.
    “Perhaps you’re right,” he admitted.
    “Of course I’m right. Now, I’m thinking we should stay here for a while,” Katherine said. “Roberto says the palazzo’s owner wants to sell. We could settle in.”
    Damon sighed. “Everyone here knows who we are already,” he said. “You feed on anyone who catches your fancy. It’ll all end in pitchforks and torches, like a horror movie.”
    Katherine laughed again and patted his knee. “Nonsense,” she said firmly. “They love us here. We haven’t killed anyone at all, thanks to your newfound morals. To them, we’re just the beautiful rich people in the palazzo who sleep all day.”
    Damon looked back up at the stars. Katherine was probably right; they were in no danger. He imagined staying here for a few years: eating figs, tossing coins in the fountain, drinking from sweet Vittoria and eventually her replacement.
    But sooner or later, they would leave and continue their wanderings across the globe: Beijing next, maybe, or Sydney. He’d never been to Australia. He would charm another girl into loving him, taste the richness of her blood, be irritated by Katherine’s latest toy, gaze up at the stars. They were all the same after a while, Damon thought, all the places of the world.
    “It doesn’t matter,” he said finally, closing his eyes and reaching again for the faint thrum of
Elena
inside him. “Whatever you want.”

“B onnie liked her present, don’t you think?” Meredith asked, straightening the pillows on the couch. She cast her eye over the rest of the living room: her law books lined up neatly; the coffee table dusted and cleared of Alaric’s research; the carpet vacuumed. She’d been gone for three days tracking Celine with Stefan, and she’d had some tidying to do when she returned. Alaric wasn’t a slob, but he didn’t keep things exactly the way Meredith did.
    As she walked over to twitch the curtains straight, she caught Alaric’s eye. He was leaning against the doorframe and looking amused, a mug in one hand.
    “You knew I was compulsive when you married me,” she said, and Alaric’s face split into a grin.
    “I did,” he said, “and I married you anyway. But yeah, I think Bonnie loved the earrings.” He crossed the room and laid his free hand on Meredith’s arm, nudging her gently toward the couch. “Sit down and drink your tea. And then let’s go to bed, it’s late.” She let him pull her onto the couch with him and leaned against him, nestling in Alaric’s warmth. He smelled good, clean and soapy with an underlying Alaric-y whiff of spice.
    “I’m glad to be home,” she told him, and snuggled closer still. She was getting sleepy. “I’d better study some before I come to bed, though,” she added dutifully. “Mock trial Monday. We’re all really stressed out.” The mock trials competition was a big deal, and she was the prosecuting attorney for her team.
    Meredith adored law school. It was a culmination of all her love of logic and study, rules and case histories and solvable problems lining up in neat rows for her to master.
    Kicking off her