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

go chasing after Jack.”
    Damon squinted up at her. “I had my reasons,” he said. He couldn’t talk about how hard it was to do
nothing
when Stefan was dead. Anyway, Elena knew. She could feel it through their connection; he didn’t have the strength to hide his thoughts from her right now.
    “We’ll talk later,” Elena said. “First, we need to get you back on your feet.” Damon coughed again, and her eyes widened at the spatter of blood that came from his mouth. “You need to feed,” she said instantly, pulling her hair aside. “Here.”
    She smelled so good, the blood pulsing beneath her skin less than an inch from his lips. Damon recalled clearly how sweet and rich Elena’s blood had always been—the best he’d ever tasted, something special. He could imagine gulping it down, feeling it heal his wounds and fill him with warmth and Power.
    Still, he hesitated. She was his brother’s, bound to Stefan now by death even more securely than in life. Itwould be different to drink her blood now, feeling her grief over Stefan. “Are you sure?” he murmured.
    Elena nodded, her face white and strained, but determined. “I’m sure,” she said, and pulled him closer.
    Damon couldn’t resist any longer.
I’m sorry, little brother.
He slipped his canines beneath Elena’s skin as gently as he could and teased them lightly back and forth, encouraging the flow of her blood into his mouth. Those first swallows were warm and sweet, as heady as wine, filling him with life. He could feel the blood streaming down his throat as he gulped, quenching his thirst and hunger, helping to heal his injuries. The stab wound in his back closed, and the pain disappeared. Elena was sharing her Power with him, and he would be strong again soon.
    His mind brushed hers, and he had such a strong feeling of
Elena
, stronger even than came through their bond. He wanted to dive into her, curl up in her essence. There was grief there, and passion—and, abruptly, an overwhelming sense from Elena of
off limits.
Damon pulled back as if he’d been burned. He tried to shut his own mind off, to give her some privacy. It was like pressing your body against another person’s, but both averting your eyes.
    Still, images and emotions came through their bond. Frustration. Worry. Fear. And a deep, painful sense of loss. A picture of Stefan’s ivory-handled dagger, clutched in Damon’s bloodstained hand, came to him from Elena, andhe winced. The dagger belonged to her as much as it did to Damon.
    I had to take it
, he told her silently.
    I know
, came back to him immediately, and with it a wave of sorrow and of love. She was torn apart inside, but she was there. He still had her. Damon drank deeply, letting Elena’s blood, Elena’s sorrow, Elena’s love, fill him once again.
    #TVD12ElenatotheRescue

“B ut is Damon okay?” Alaric asked, his fork suspended halfway to his mouth.
    “Damon’s always all right,” Meredith said swiftly. That wasn’t quite true, of course—Damon had
died
once—but there was so much going on at the steakhouse Alaric had brought her to that she couldn’t concentrate on their conversation. Alaric had thought it would be nice for them to have a real date night, but Meredith wasn’t sure she was going to be able to cope with the crowd.
    The waitress set down their sides—potato, creamed spinach, salad—and Meredith flinched. It was one of her favorite meals, but it smelled terrible, cloying, like sweet-rotting vegetation. The waitress herself, though, smelled delicious, warm and salty and ripe. Meredith averted hereyes and took a tiny sip of ice water. She was always thirsty these days, but if she drank too much water, it made her sick. It wasn’t what her body wanted.
    She took a deep breath and concentrated.
I am stronger than this
, she told herself. She hadn’t fed, not even from an animal. If she drank blood, the vampire inside her would get the upper hand, defeat the real Meredith. Tears prickled at the