vampire diaries Shadow Souls | Page 6

now. As hard as she tried to quiet her imagination, she kept thinking
about the things that Stefan’s jailers might be doing to
him. Grimly, she gripped her mobile again, letting tears fall on it.
“I can’t let myself think of what they might do to him because then I really start to go
crazy. I become this useless shaking insane person who just
wants to scream and scream and never stop. I have to fight every second not to think
about it. Because only a cool, calm Elena with a Plan A and B and C
is going to help him. When I have him safe in my arms, I can let myself shake and c ry—
and scream, too.”
Elena stopped, half laughing, her head bent against the passenger’s sea tback, her voice
husky with overuse.
“I’m tired now. But I have a Plan A, at least. I need to get more information fr om Damon
about the place we’re going, the Dark Dimension, and
anything he knows about the two clues Misao gave me about the key that will unlock
Stefan’s cell.
“I guess…I guess I haven’t mentioned that at all. The key, the fox key, that we ne ed to
get Stefan out of his cell, is broken into two pieces that are
hidden in two different places. And when Misao was taunting me about how little I kne w
about those places, she gave me flat-out clues about where they
were. She never dreamed I’d actually go into the Dark Dimension; she was just showing
off. But I still remember the clues, and they went like this: The first
half is ‘in the silver nightingale’s instrument.’ And the second half is ‘buried i n
Bloddeuwedd’s ballroom.’
“I need to see if Damon has any ideas about these. Because it sounds as if once we ge t to
the Dark Dimension we’re going to have to infiltrate
some people’s houses and other places. To search a ballroom, it’s bes t to somehow get
invited to the ball, right? That sounds like ‘easier said than
done,’ but whatever it takes, I’ll do. It’s simple as that.”
Elena lifted her head in determination and went still, then said in a whisper, “Woul d you
believe it? I looked up just now and I can see the palest streaks of dawn in the sky: light green and creamy orange and the faintest aqua …. I’ve
talked all through the darkness. It’s so peaceful now. Just now the
sun peeked up o—
“What the hell was that? Something just went BANG on the top of the Jag. Really, really
loud.”

Elena clicked off the recorder on her mobile. She was scared, but a noise like that—and
now scrabbling sounds on the roof…
She had to get out of the car as fast as possible.
2
E lena burst out of the backseat of the Jaguar and ran a little way from the car before
turning to see what had fallen on top of it.
What had fallen was Matt. He was in the process of struggling to get up off his back.
“Matt—oh, my God! Are you all right? Are you hurt?” Elena cried at the same t ime as
Matt was shouting in tones of anguish:
“Elena—oh, my God! Is the Jag all right? Is it hurt?”
“Matt, are you crazy? Did you hit your head?”
“Are there any scratches? Does the moonroof still work?”
“No scratches. The moonroof is fine.” Elena had no idea if the moonroof worked, but she
realized that Matt was raving, off his head. He was trying
to get down without getting any mud on the Jag, but he was handicapped since his legs
and feet were covered with mud. Getting off of the car without
using his feet was proving difficult.
Meanwhile, Elena was looking around. She herself had once fallen from the sky, yes , but
she had been dead for six months first and had arrived
naked, and Matt fulfilled neither requirement. She had a more prosaic explanation i n
mind.
And there it was, lounging against a yellowwood tree and eyeing the scene wit h a very
slight, wicked smile.
Damon.
He was compact; not as tall as Stefan, but with an indefinable aura of men ace that more
than made up for it. He was as immaculately dressed as
always: black Armani jeans, black shirt, black leather jacket, and black boots, which all
went with his carelessly windblown dark hair and his black eyes.
Right now, he made Elena acutely aware that she was wearing a long white nightgown
that she