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was blond.A tourist. He knew she was American before she spoke.
"Yes& I think& " Her brown eyes were unfocused.
"Do you have a way to get home? Where are you staying?"
"On Viadei Conti, near the Medici chapel. I'm with theGonzaga inFlorence
program."
Damn! Not a tourist, then; a student. And that meant she'd be carrying this
story back with her, telling her classmates about the handsome Italian guy
she'd met last night.The one with night-dark eyes. The one who took her back
to his exclusive place on ViaTornabuoni and wined her and dined her and then,
in the moonlight, maybe, in his room or out in the enclosed courtyard, leaned
close to look into her eyes and&
Stefan's gaze slid away from the girl's throat with its two reddened puncture
wounds. He'd seen marks like that so often how could they still have the power
to disturb him? But they did; they sickened him and set a slow burning in his
gut.
"What's your name?"
"Rachael. Withana ." She spelled it.
"All right, Rachael. Look at me. You will go back to yourpensione and you
won't remember anything about last night. You don't know where you went or who
you saw. And you've never seen me before, either. Repeat."
"I don't remember anything about last night," she said obediently, her eyes
on his. Stefan's Powers were not as strong as they would have been if he'd
been drinking human blood, but they were strong enough for this. "I don't know
where I went or who I saw. I haven't seen you."
"Good. Do you have money to get back? Here." Stefan pulled a fistful of
crumpled lire mostly 50,000 and 100,000 notes out of his pocket and led her
outside.
When she was safely in a cab, he went back inside and made straight for
Damon's bedroom.
Damon was lounging near the window, peeling an orange, not even dressed yet.
He looked up, annoyed, as Stefan entered.
"It's customary to knock," he said.
"Where'd you meet her?" said Stefan. And then, when Damon turned a blank
stare on him, he added, "That girl. Rachael."
"Was that her name? I don't think I bothered to ask. AtBarGilli . Or perhaps
it was Bar Mario. Why?"
Stefan struggled to contain his anger. "That's not the only thing you didn't
bother to do. You didn't bother to influence her to forget you, either. Do
youwant to get caught, Damon?"
Damon's lips curved in a smile and he twisted off a curlicue of orange peel.
"I amnever caught, little brother," he said.
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"So what are you going to do when they come after you? When somebody
realizes, 'My God, there's a bloodsucking monster on ViaTornabuoni '? Kill
them all? Wait until they break down the front door and then melt away into
darkness?"
Damon met his gaze directly, challengingly, that faint smile still clinging
about his lips.
"Why not?" he said.
"Damn you!" said Stefan. "Listen to me, Damon. This has got to stop."
"I'm touched at your concern for my safety."
"It isn't fair, Damon. To take an unwilling girl like that "
"Oh, she was willing, brother. She was very, very willing."
"Did you tell her what you were going to do? Did you warn her about the
consequences of exchanging blood with a vampire?The nightmares, the psychic
visions? Was she willing forthat?" Damon clearly wasn't going to reply, so he
went on. "You know it's wrong."
"As a matter of fact, I do." With that, Damon gave one of his sudden,
unnerving smiles, turning it on and off instantly.
"And you don't care," Stefan said dully, looking away.
Damon tossed away the orange. His tone was silky, persuasive. "Little
brother, the world is full of what you call 'wrong,' " he said. "Why not relax
and join the winning side? It's much more fun, I assure you."
Stefan felt himself go hot with anger. "How can you even say that?" he
flashed back. "Didn't you learn anything from Katherine?She chose 'the winning
side.' "
"Katherine died too quickly," said Damon. He was smiling again, but his eyes
were cold.
"And now all you can think about is revenge." Looking at his brother, Stefan
felt a crushing weight settle on his own chest. "That and your own pleasure,"
he said.
"What else is there? Pleasure is the only reality, little brother pleasure
and power. And you're a hunter by nature, just as much as I am," Damon said.
He added, "I don't remember inviting you to come toFlorence with me, anyway.
Since you're not enjoying yourself, why don't you just leave?"
The weight in Stefan's chest tightened suddenly, unbearably, but his gaze,
locked with Damon's, did not waver. "You know why," he said quietly. And at
last he had the satisfaction of seeing Damon's eyes drop.
Stefan himself could hear Elena's words in his mind. She'd been dying then,
and her voice had been weak, but he'd heard her clearly.You have to take care
of each other. Stefan, will you promise? Promise to take care of each other ?
And he had promised, and he would keep his word.No matter what.
"You know why I don't leave," he said again to Damon, who wouldn't look at
him. "You can pretend you don't care. You can fool the whole world. But I know
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differently." It would have been kindest at this point to leave Damon alone,
but Stefan wasn't in a kind mood. "You know that girl you picked up, Rachael?"
he added. "The hair was all right, but her eyes were the wrong color. Elena's
eyes were blue."
With that he turned, meaning to leave Damon here to think it over if Damon
would do anything so constructive, of course. But he never made it to the
door.
"It's there!" said Meredith sharply, her eyes on the candle flame and the
pin.
Bonnie sucked in her breath. Something was opening in front of her like a
silver thread, a silver tunnel of communication. She was rushing along it,
with no way to stop herself or check her speed. Oh, God, she thought, when I
reach the end and hit
The flash in Stefan's head was soundless, lightless, and powerful as a
thunderclap. At the same time he felt a violent, wrenching tug.An urge to
follow something. This was not like Katherine's sly subliminal nudging to go
somewhere; this was a psychic shout.A command that could not be disobeyed. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]