The Hunters: Phantom Chapter 22

Elena couldnt breathe. She could vaguely feel her mouth opening and closing, but she found she wasnt up to(p) to say anything. Her hands and feet had gone numb. Damon gave her an just about shy smile which was funny, because Damon didnt do shy and shrugged. Wel , princess? You wanted me to be here with you, didnt you?As if a spoilber band place her back had snapped, Elena leaped out of bed and hurtled into Damons arms. atomic number 18 you real? she said, half sobbing. Is this real? She kissed him fiercely, and he met her kiss with equal fervor. He felt real, cool skin and leather, the surprising softness of his lips familiar under hers.hither I am, he murmured into her hair as he pul ed her close to him. Its real, I promise you.Elena stepped back and smacked him operose across the face. Damon glared at her and reached up to rub his cheek. Ouch, he said, and thus cracked a narrow, irritating smile. I cant say that was completely unexpected I get slapped by women more than than often than youd turn over possible but non a nice welcome for the long-lost love, sweetheart.How could you? Elena said, dry-eyed now and furious.How could you, Damon? Weve al been mourning you. Stefans fal ing apart. Bonnie blames herself. I I A division of my heart died. How long have you been watching us? Didnt you care? Was this al some kind of joke to you?Did you laugh when we cried?Damon winced. Darling, he said. My princess. Arent you glad to see me at al ?Of course I am said Elena indignantly. She took a breath and cooled d induce a little. But, Damon, what were you thinking? We al thought you were dead Permanently dead, not show-up-in-my-bedroom-a-few-days-laterlooking-perfectly-healthy dead Whats going on? Did the Guardians do this? They told me they couldnt when I begged them to, that death is permanent for a lamia once it happens.Damon graced her with a genuine, laughing smile. Wel , you of al people ought to fuck that death isnt always permanent.Elena shrugged and wrapped her arms around herself.They told me that when I came back, it was different, she said in a smal office, her emotions zigzagging al over the place. Because youre in shock, a tiny voice at the back of her head said freshly. Mystical stuff, you know. My time wasnt up. Hey She poked him with one finger, perking up.Are you human now? I was human when I returned.Damon gave a long, delegacy shudder. God forbid. I had enough of that when that meddling kitsune made me a mortal. Thank heaven or whoever I dont have to go looking for an obliging vampire princess to turn me back this time. He grinned slyly at Elena. Im as bloodsucking as ever, darling. He eyed her neck. Speaking of which, Im rather hungryElena smacked him again, though more gently this time.Knock it off, Damon.Can I sit down now? Damon asked and, when she nodded, settled himself on the foot of her bed and drew her down to sit beside him. Elena looked searchingly into his eyes, therefore gently traced her han d over his sharp cheekbones, his sculpted mouth, his soft raven hair.You were dead, Damon, she said quietly. I know it. I saw you die.Yes, he said, and sighed. I felt myself die. It was horribly painful and it seemed to both go on forever and be over in a few moments. He shuddered. There was a little bit left of me level off then though Elena nodded and Stefan told me, told him, to fly away. And you held him held me and told me to close my eyes. And then that last little bit of me was gone, too, and even the pain was gone. And then I came back. Damons dark eyes were wide with remembered wonder.But how? asked Elena.Remember the star bal ?How could I forget? It was the root of al our problems with the kitsune. It was vaporized when I Oh, Damon, I utilize my Wings of remnant on the tree on the Nether Worlds slug. But they destroyed the kitsunes star bal , too, and I had to go to the Guardians to save Fel s Church. The Wings of Destruction were like nothing Ive ever seen or felt before. She shivered.Ive seen what you did to that moon, Damon said, smiling slightly. Would it make you feel better, my lovely angel, if you knew that using your Powers like that and destroying the star bal is what saved me?Dont cal me that, said Elena, scowling. The Guardians were the ambient thing she had ever seen to real angels, and she did not have fond memories of them. How did it save you?Do they explain how condensation works in modern schools? Damon asked with the supercilious pattern he always wore when he teasingly criticized her world in comparison to the one he had grown up in. Is it al sex education, empathy, and second-rate novels now, or do they stil tel the children a little about science? I know theyve dropped Latin and Greek in favor of theater and consciousness-raising. His voice dripped with contempt. Elena told herself not to resurrect to his bait. Instead she folded her hands neatly in front of her in her lap. I think you may be a few decades out-of-date. But please, O wise one, she said, assume that my education didnt include the connection between condensation and rising from the dead, and enlighten me.Nice. Damon smirked. I like to see a young woman who is deferent of her elders and betters. Elena cocked an eyebrow at him warningly. Anyway, he continued, the liquid in the star bal , the pure magic, didnt vanish. Its not that easy to get rid of real y strong magic. As the atmosphere cooled, the magic turned from vapor back into liquid and fel down on me, with the rain of alter. I was soaking in pure Power for hours, in small stages y being reborn.Elenas mouth dropped open. Those sneaks, she said indignantly. The Guardians told me you were gone for good, and they took al the treasures we bribed them with, too. She thought briefly of the one last treasure she stil had, a water bottle ful of the piddle of Eternal Youth, hidden high up on the shelf in her closet, and pushed the thought away. She couldnt even acknowledge that hidden treasure to herself for more than a moment, for business organization the Guardians would realize she had it, and she couldnt use it not yet, maybe not ever. Damon shrugged one shoulder. They do cheat, sometimes, I hear. But its more likely this time that they thought they were tel ing the truth. They dont know everything, even though they like to pretend they do. And kitsune and vampires are both a little outside their area of expertise.He told her how he had woken, buried deep in ash and mud, clawed his way to the surface, and set off across the desolate moon, not knowing who he was or what had happened to him, and how he had almost died again, and that Sage had saved him.And then what? Elena asked eagerly. How did you remember everything? How did you get back to Earth?Wel , said Damon, turning a slight, fond smile on her,thats a funny story. He reached into an inner air hole of his leather jacket and pul ed out a neatly folded white linen handkerchief. Elena blinked. It looked like the same handkerchief he had given her in her dream. Damon spy her expression and smiled more widely, as though he knew where she was recognizing it from. He unfolded it and held it out for Elenas inspection.Cradled internal the handkerchief were two strands of hair. Very familiar hair, Elena realized. She and Bonnie had each put out off a lock of hair and placed them on Damons body, wanting to leave a part of themselves with him, since they couldnt take his body off the desolate moon with them. Before her now lay a curling red lock and a waving gold one, as b undecomposed and shiny as if they had nevertheless been cut from freshly washed heads, rather than left on a world with ash fal ing al around.Damon gazed at the locks with an expression made up of warmth and a little awe. Elena thought that she had never seen such an open, almost hopeful look from him.The Power from the star bal saved these, too, he said.First they were burned almost to ash, but then they regenerate d. I held them and studied them and cherished them, and you started to come back to me. Sage had given me my attain, and it sounded right to me, but I couldnt recal anything else about myself. But as I held these locks of hair, I gradual y remembered who you were, and what we had been through together, and al the things I He paused. What I knew and felt about you, and then I remembered the little redbird, too, and then everything else came flooding back and I was myself again.He glanced away and lost the sentimental look, smoothing his face into its usual cool expression, as if embarrassed, then folded the locks of hair back inside the handkerchief and tucked it careful y away into his jacket.Wel , he said briskly, then it was just a matter of having Sage lend me some clothes, fil me in on what I had missed, and give me a lift back to Fel s Church. And now here I am.I bet he was amazed, said Elena, and ecstatic. The vampire Keeper of the Gates Between Worlds was a dear friend of Da mons, the only friend of Damons she knew of, other than herself. Damons acquaintances tended to be enemies or admirers more often than friends.He was rather pleased, Damon admitted.So you just now made it back to Earth?Damon nodded.Wel , youve missed a lot here, Elena said, launching into an explanation of the past few days, starting with Celias name written in blood and ending on Calebs hospitalization.Wow. Damon let out a low whistle. But I have to assume the problem is more than my little brother acting like a madman with Caleb? Because, you know, that may be simple jealousy. Jealousy has always been Stefans biggest sin. He said the last with a smug twist to his lips, and Elena elbowed him gently in the ribs.Dont put Stefan down, she said reprovingly, and smiled to herself. It felt so good to be scolding Damon again. He real y was his own maddening, changeable, wonderful self again. Damon was back.Wait. Oh, no. Youre in danger, too Elena gasped, remembering suddenly that he coul d stil be taken from her.Your name appeared earlier, written in the weeds that were holding Meredith underwater. We didnt know what it could mean, because we thought you were dead. But, since youre alive, it seems youre the next target. She paused.Unless fal ing through the surface of the moon was the fervency on you.Dont worry about me, Elena. You are probably right about the attack on the moon being my accident. But they havent been very successful attempts, have they? Damon said thoughtful y. Almost as if whatever this is isnt trying very hard to kil us. I have a faint inkling about what might be causing this.You do? asked Elena. Tel me.Damon agitate his head. Its just a glimmer right now, he said. Let me get some sort of confirmation.But Damon, Elena pleaded, even a glimmer is much more than the rest of us have been able to come up with. Come with me tomorrow morning and tel everyone about it, and we can al work together.Oh, yes, said Damon, with a mock shudder. You and me and Mutt and the vampire hunter, a cozy group. Plus my pious brother and the little red witch. And the old lady witch and the teacher. No, Im going to do some more digging on my own. And whats more, Elena, he said, fixing her with a dark stare, youre not to tel anyone that Im alive. Especial y not Stefan.Damon Elena protested. You dont know how absolutely devastated Stefan is, thinking youre dead. We have to let him know youre al right.Damon smiled wryly. I think theres probably a part of Stefan thats glad enough to have me out of the picture. He doesnt have any reason to want me here. Elena shook her head in furious denial, but he went on. Its true. But maybe its time for things to be different between us. To that end, I have to show him that I can change. In any case, I cant investigate this properly if everyone knows Im around. Keep quiet for now, Elena. She opened her mouth to object further, but he silenced her with a quick, fierce kiss. When they broke apart, he said, Promise me for now, and Il promise you that as soon as I figure this out, you can announce my resurrection to the world.Elena nodded doubtful y. If thats what you real y want, Damon, and you real y think its necessary, she said. But Im not happy about it.Damon got to his feet and patted her shoulder. Things are going to be different now, he said. He looked down at her, his face serious. Im not the same as I was, Elena.Elena nodded again, more firmly this time. Il keep your secret, Damon, she promised.Damon gave her a smal , tight smile, then took three steps toward her open window. In a moment he was gone, and a large black crow flew out into the night.