The Return: Shadow Souls Chapter 17

Her names Ulma, a voice said, and Elena faceed down to find Lakshmi holding pole the curtains of the bevy with a hand over her cope. E very(prenominal)body bonks Old Drohzne and his slaves. He beat em until they pass come forth and accordingly expects em to pick up his rickshaw and go on carrying a load. He kills five or six a year.He didnt kill this adept, Elena murmured. He got what he deserved. She squeezed Ulmas hand.She was vastly relieved when the litter s jacketped and Damon himself appeared, in force(p) as she was roughly to vary bargaining with star of the litter bearers to carry Ulma in their arms to the doctor. Without regard for his clothing, Damon still in some way managed to convey disinterest even as he picked up the adult female Ulma and nodded to Elena to follow him. Lakshmi skipped around him and in any casek the lead into an intricately patterned st unrivalled court of justice and hence down a crooked h aloneway with some solid, respec dodge-loo king doors. Finally, she knocked on one and a wizened man with a huge repoint and the faintest remnant of a wispy beard heart-to-heart the door cautiously.I dont keep all ketterris here No hexen, no zemeral And I dont do love spells whence, peering short-sightedly, he seemed to focus on the little group.Lakshmi? he said.Weve brought a charr who needs process, Elena said shortly. Shes pregnant, overly. Youre a doctor, arent you? A healer?A healer of some limited ability. Come in, come in.The doctor was upper into a back room. They all followed him, Damon still carrying Ulma. Once she arrived, Elena axiom that the healer was in the corner of what looked exchangeable a crowded wizards sanctuary, with quite a bit of voodoo and witch doctor thrown in.Elena, Meredith, and bonnie glanced at one a nonher nervously, but then Elena heard irrigate dust and realized that the doctor was in the corner because there was a lavatory of wet there, and the healer was washing his hands thoroughly, rolling his sleeves up to his elbows and suffice a lot of frothy bubbles. He talent call himself a healer, yet he did understand basic hygiene, she persuasion.Damon had put Ulma onto what looked standardized a impudent white-sheeted examining table. The doctor nodded to him. Then, tch-tching, he pulled out a tray of instruments and set Lakshmi about fetching cloths to clean the thinnings and staunch the profuse release. He also opened various drawers to pull out strong-smelling bags and stood on a stream allow to pull down clumps of herbs that were strung from the ceiling. Finally he opened a small box and took a pinch of snuff, himself.Please hurry, Elena said. Shes lost a lot of blood.And youve lost non a little, the man said. My name is Kephar Meggar and this would be gain Drohznes slave, yes? He peered at them, looking somehow as if he were vesture glasses, which he wasnt. And you would be slaves, too? He stared at the angiotensin-converting enzyme rope Elena was still wearing, and then at decent and Meredith, each wearing the same.Yes, but Elena stopped. Some infiltrator she was. Shed very nearly said but not really its just to satisfy convention. She settled for saying, still our master is very different from hers. They were very different, she thought. Damon didnt submit a broken neck, for one thing. And for another, no matter how vicious and deadly he might be, he would neer strike a cleaning woman, much less do something like this to one. He seemed to puzzle some kind of internal b prosecute against it except when he was possessed by Shinichi, and couldnt control his own muscles.And yet Drohzne allowed you to bring this woman to a healer? The little man looked doubtful.No, he wouldnt confirm let us, Im sure, Elena said flatly. But please shes bleeding and shes going to go through a baby.Dr. Meggars eyebrows went up and down. But without request anyone to leave while he treated her, he pulled out an old-fashioned stethoscope and listened guardianshipfully to Ulmas heart and lungs. He smelled her breath, and then lightly palpated her abdomen below Elenas bloody camisole, all with a professional air, forrader tipping to her lips a brown bottle, from which she drank a few sips, then sank back, her eyeball fluttering closed.Now, the little man said, shes resting comfortably. Shell need quite a bit of stitching of course, and you could use a few stitches yourself, but thats as your master says, I mull over. Dr. Meggar said the word master with a decided implication of dislike. But I washstand well-nigh promise you that she wont die. close to her babe I dont make do. It whitethorn come out marked as a result of this business striped birthmarks, perhaps or it may be perfectly all right. But with food and rest Dr. Meggars eyebrows went up and down again, as if the doctor would engender liked to say this to Master Drohznes face she should recover.Take care of Elena rootborn, then, Da mon said.No, no Elena said, pushing the doctor away. He seemed like a nice man, but obviously around here, know were masters and Damon was to a greater extent masterful and intimidating than most.But not, at this moment, to Elena. She didnt care about herself right now. Shed made a promise the doctors words meant that she might be able to keep it. That was what she cared about.Up and down, up and down. Dr. Meggars eyebrows looked like deuce caterpillars on one elastic string. One lagged a little stinker the other. Clearly, the behavior he was seeing was abnormal, even liable to be penalize by serious means. But Elena only noticed him peripherally, the way she was noticing Damon. table service her, she said vehemently and watched the doctors eyebrows shoot up as if they were aimed for the ceiling.Shed let her corona escape. Not completely, thank God, but a blast had definitely discharged, like a flash of sheet lightning in the room.And the doctor, who wasnt a vampire, but jus t an ordinary citizen, had noticed it. Lakshmi had noticed it even Ulma stirred on the examining table uneasily.Im going to have to be a whole lot more careful, Elena thought. She cast a quick look at Damon, who was about to explode, himself she could tell. in any case many emotions, too much blood in the room, and the adrenaline of killing still pulsing in his bloodstream.How did she know all that?Because Damon wasnt perfectly in control, either, she realized. She was sensing things directly from his school principal. Best to ache him out of here quickly. Well dwell outside, she said, catching his arm, to Dr. Meggars obvious shock. Slaves, even beautiful ones, didnt act that way.Go and clench in the courtyard then, the doctor said, carefully controlling his face and sermon to the air in between Damon and Elena. Lakshmi, give them some bandages so they move staunch the young girls bleeding. Then come back you tin can help me.Just one question, he added as Elena and the oth ers were walking out of the room. How did you know that this woman is pregnant? What sort of spell can tell you that?No spell, Elena said patently. Any woman watching her should have known. She saw Bonnie flash her an injured look, but Meredith remained inscrutable.That horrible slaver Drogsie or whatever was whipping her from the front, Elena said. And look at those gashes. She winced, looking over cardinal bar that crossed Ulmas sternum. In that case, any woman would be trying to harbor her breasts, but this one was trying to cover her belly. That meant she was pregnant, and far along replete to be sure about it, too.Dr. Meggars eyebrows drew down and to bulgeher and then he looked up at Elena as if peering over glasses. Then he nodded slowly. You scud some bandages and stop your own bleeding, he said to Elena, not to Damon. Apparently, slave or not, she had won some kind of respect from him.On the other hand, Elena seemed to have lost stature with Damon or at least, hed cut his mind off from hers quite deliberately, leaving her with a blank besiege to stare at. In the doctors waiting room, he waved an imperious hand at Bonnie and Meredith.Wait here in this room, he said no, he ordered. Dont leave it until the doctor comes out. Dont let anyone in the front door lock it now, and keep it locked. Good. Elena is coming with me into the kitchen thats the back door. I do not command to be disturbed by anyone unless an angry mob is threatening the rear with arson, do you understand? Both of you?Elena could see Bonnie about to blab out, But Elenas still bleeding and Meredith was with her eyeball and brows calling council on whether or not they needed to hold an immediate velociraptor sisterhood rebellion. They all knew plan A for this Bonnie would throw herself into Damons arms, passionately weeping or passionately kissing him, whichever best fit the situation, while Elena and Meredith came at him from the sides and did well, whatever had to be done.Elena, with one flash of her own eyes, had categorically nixed this. Damon was angry, yes, but she could sense that it was more with Drohzne than with her. The blood had agitated him, yes, but he was used to controlling himself in bloody situations. And she needed help with her wounds, which had begun to hurt seriously, ever since shed heard that the woman she had rescued would live, and might even have her baby. But if Damon had something on his mind, she precious to know what it was now.With one last comforting glance at Bonnie, Elena followed Damon through with(predicate) the kitchen door. It had a lock on it. Damon looked at it and opened his mouth Elena locked it. Then she looked up at her master.He was standing by the kitchen sink, methodically pumping water, with one hand clenched against his fore channel. His hair hung over his eyes, suck upting splashed, getting wet. He didnt seem to care.Damon? Elena said uncertainly. Are youall right?He didnt answer.Damon? she tried and true telepathically.I let you get hurt. Im fast enough. I could have killed that crap Drohzne with one blast of business leader. But I never imagined youd get hurt. His telepathic voice was at one time filled with the darkest kind of menace imaginable and a strange, almost gentle, calm. As if he were trying to keep all the ferocity and anger locked away from her.I couldnt even tell him I couldnt even send words to him to tell him what he was. I couldnt think. He was a telepath he would have heard me. But I didnt have any words. I could only scream in my mind.Elena mat up a bit light-headed a little more light-headed than shed already been feeling. Damon was feeling this anguish for her? He wasnt angry about her flagrantly suspension rules in front of crowds, maybe breaking their cover? He didnt mind looking bedraggled?Damon, she said. Hed surprised her into speaking out loud. It it doesnt matter. Its not your fault. You would never even have let me do it But I should have known you wouldnt ask I thought you were going to attack him, to dance on his shoulders and throttle him, and I was ready to help you do that, to take him down like two wolves taking down a self-aggrandizing buck. But youre not a sword, Elena. Whatever you think, youre a shield. I should have known that you would take the next blow yourself. And because of me, you got His eye drifted to her cheekbone and he winced.Then he seemed to get a grip on himself. The water is cold, but its pure. We need to clean those slashes and stop that bleeding now.I dont suppose theres any Black Magic around, Elena said, half jokingly. This was going to hurt.Damon, however, immediately began start cupboards. Here, he said after checking only three, triumphantly coming up with a half-full bottle of Black Magic. Lots of doctors keep this as a medicine and anesthetic. Dont worry Ill pay him well.Then I think you should have some, too, Elena said boldly. Come on, itll do us both good. An d it wont be the first time.She knew that the last sentence would clinch it with Damon. It would be a way of getting back something that Shinichi had taken from him.Ill get the whole of his memories back from Shinichi somehow, Elena decided, doing her best to hide her thoughts from Damon with white noise. I dont know how to do it, and I dont know when Ill get the chance, but I swear I will. I swear.Damon had filled two goblets with the rich, heady-smelling wine and was handing one to Elena. Just sip at first, he said, lost but to fall into the role of instructor. This is a good year.Elena sipped, then simply gulped. She was thirsty and Clarion Loess Black Magic wine didnt have any alcohol as such in it. It certainly didnt taste like regular wine. It tasted like remarkably refreshing effervescent spring water that was flavored with sweet, deep, velvety grapes.Damon, she noticed, had forgotten to sip as well, and when he offered her a certify glass to match his, she accepted willi ngly.His aura sure had calmed down a lot, she thought, as he picked up a wet cloth and began, gently, to clean the cut that almost exactly followed the line of her cheekbone. It had been the one to stop bleeding first, but now he needed to get the blood flow rate again, to clean it. With two glasses of Black Magic on top of no food since breakfast, Elena tack together herself relaxing against the back of the chair, letting her head drop back a little, and shutting her eyes. She lost track of time, as he stroked the cut smoothly. And she lost strict control of her aura.When she opened her eyes it was in response to no sound, no visual stimulus. It was a inferno in Damons aura, one of sudden determination.Damon?He was standing over her. His shabbiness had flared out behind him like a shadow, tall and wide and almost mesmerizing. Definitely almost frightening.Damon? she said again, uncertainly.Were not doing this right, he said, and her thoughts flashed at in one case to her disobe dience as a slave, and Bonnie and Merediths less serious infractions. But his voice was like dark velvet, and her body responded to it more accurately than her mind. It shivered.Howdo we do it right? she asked, and then she made the mistake of opening her eyes. She found that he was stooping over her as she sat on the chair, stroking no, just touching her hair so light that she hadnt even mat up it.Vampires know how to take care of wounds, he said confidently, and his great eyes that seemed to hold their own universe of stars caught and held her. We can clean them. We can start them bleeding again or stop them.Ive felt like this onward, Elena thought. Hes talked to me like this before, too, even if he doesnt remember. And I I was too frightened. But that was beforeBefore the motel. The night when hed told her to run, and she hadnt. The night that Shinichi had taken, just as hed taken the first time theyd shared Black Magic together.Show me, whispered Elena. And she knew that something else in her mind was whispering too, whispering different words. Words that she would never have said if she had for a moment thought of herself as a slave.Whispering, Im yoursThat was when she felt his mouth lightly brush her mouth.And then she just thought, Oh and Oh, Damonuntil he locomote to gently touch her cheek with his silky soft tongue, manipulating chemicals first to make cleansing blood flow, and finally when the impurities had all been so softly move away, to stop the blood and to heal the wound. She could feel his Power now, the dark Power that he had used in a thousand fights, to inflict hundreds of somebody wounds, being held tightly in check to concentrate on this simple, unmistakable task, to heal the mark of a whiplash on a girls cheek. Elena thought it was like being stroked with the petals of that Black Magic rose, its cool smooth petals gently sweeping away the pain, until she shivered in delight.And then it stopped. Elena knew that shed once again had too much wine. But this time she didnt feel sick. The deceptively light make happy had gone to her head, making her tipsy. Everything had taken on an unreal, dreamlike quality.It will cultivation healing well now, Damon said, again touching her hair so softly that she could barely feel it. But this time she did feel it, because she sent out fingers of Power to meet the sensation and enjoy every moment of it. And once again he kissed her so lightly his lips barely brushing hers. When her head fell back, though, he didnt follow, even when, disappointed, she tried to put pressure on the back of his neck. He simply waited until Elena thought things outslowly.We shouldnt be kissing. Meredith and Bonnie are right next door. How do I get myself in situations like this? But Damon isnt even trying to kissand were supposed to be oh Her other wounds.They really hurt now. What cruel person had thought up a whip like that, Elena thought, with a razor-thin lash that cut so deeply it did nt even hurt at first or not that muchbut got worse and worse over time? And kept bleedingwere supposed to be stopping the bleeding until the doctor can see me.But her next wound, the one that burned like give notice now, was diagonally across her collarbone. And the third was near her knee.Damon started to get up, to get another cloth from the sink and cleanse the cut with water.Elena held him back. No.No? Are you sure?Yes.All I want to do is cleanse it.I know. She did know. His mind was open to hers, all its turbulent power cut clear and tranquilly. She didnt know why it had opened to her like this, but it had.But let me advise you, dont go donating your blood to some dying vampire dont let anyone sample it. Its worse than Black Magic Worse? She knew he was complimenting her, but she didnt understand.The more you drink, the more you want to drink, Damon answered, and for a moment Elena saw the turbulence she had caused in those calm waters. And the more you drink, the more Po wer you can absorb, he added seriously. Elena realized that she had never even thought of this as a problem, but it was. She remembered the agony it had been to try to absorb her own aura before she had learned how to keep it moving with her bloodstream.Dont worry, he added, still serious. I know who youre thinking about. He made a move again to get a cloth. But without knowing it, he had said too much, presumed too far.You know who Im thinking about? Elena said softly, and she was surprised at how dicey her own voice could sound, like the soft padding of heavy tigress feet. Without asking me?Damon tried to finesse his way out. Well, I assumed.No one knows what Im thinking about, Elena said. Until I tellthem. She moved and made him kneel to look at her, questioningly.Hungrily.Then, just as it was she who had made him kneel, it was she whodrew him to her wound.