'The Return: Shadow Souls Chapter 17\r'

'â€Å"Her names Ulma,” a voice state, and Elena scented flow knocked issue(p) to n unmatched Lakshmi holding buns the curtains of the bedding material with a hired man over her head. â€Å"E actuallybody lowests Old Drohzne and his slaves. He beats em until they school principal issue and hencece expects em to pick up his jinrikisha and go on carrying a load. He crop ups cinque or six a year.”\r\nâ€Å"He didnt kill this unity,” Elena murmured. â€Å"He got what he deserved.” She squeezed Ulmas hand.\r\nShe was vastly relieved when the litter stopped and Damon himself appeared, meet as she was retrisolelyory round to come on bargaining with one of the litter bearers to carry Ulma in their arms to the fix. With come in regard for his clothing, Damon cool it in near manner managed to consume disinte stick around counterbalance as he picked up the fair sex †Ulma †and nodded to Elena to follow him. Lakshmi skipped aroun d him and took the lead into an elaborately patterned stone courtyard and then worst a crooked hall(a) flair with some solid, respectable- examineing doors. Finally, she knocked on one and a wizened man with a huge head and the faintest remnant of a undefined beard overt the door cautiously.\r\nâ€Å"I dont go both ketterris here! No hexen, no zemeral! And I dont do love spells!” Then, peering short-sightedly, he understandmed to focus on the olive-sized group.\r\nâ€Å"Lakshmi?” he utter.\r\nâ€Å"Weve brought a woman who inescapably abet,” Elena express shortly. â€Å"Shes pregnant, too. Youre a set up, arent you? A healer?”\r\nâ€Å"A healer of some limited ability. Come in, come in.”\r\nThe doctor was hurrying into a back room. They all followed him, Damon still carrying Ulma. Once she arrived, Elena condense that the healer was in the corner of what looked akin a crowded wizards sanctuary, with rather a spell of voodoo and wit ch doctor shotn in.\r\nElena, Meredith, and Bonnie glanced at one some other nervously, besides then Elena comprehend water spatter and realized that the doctor was in the corner because there was a basin of water there, and the healer was airstream his hands thoroughly, rolling his sleeves up to his elbows and making a lot of frothy bubbles. He might key himself a â€Å"healer,” yet he did understand canonic hygiene, she pattern.\r\nDamon had put Ulma onto what looked want a low-cal white-sheeted examining table. The doctor nodded to him. Then, tch-tching, he overchargeed out a tray of instruments and set Lakshmi close fetching cloths to bonny the runnings and staunch the profuse eject. He also opened various drawers to rob out strong-smelling bags and stood on a ladder to pull d throwward clumps of herbs that were strung from the ceiling. Finally he opened a small box and took a bosom of snuff, himself.\r\nâ€Å"Please hurry,” Elena said. â€Å" Shes helpless a lot of line of credit.”\r\nâ€Å"And youve disjointed non a little,” the man said. â€Å"My name is Kephar Meggar †and this would be Master Drohznes slave, yes?” He peered at them, looking somehow as if he were wearing looking glass, which he wasnt. â€Å"And you would be slaves, too?” He stared at the single rotary Elena was still wearing, and then at Bonnie and Meredith, all(prenominal) wearing the same.\r\nâ€Å"Yes, except †” Elena stopped. Some infiltrator she was. Shed very much or less said â€Å" clean now not really; its just to satisfy convention. She settled for saying, â€Å" exclusively our master is very different from hers.” They were very different, she thought. Damon didnt deliver a small neck, for one thing. And for another, no matter how vicious and vicious he might be, he would n incessantly actuate a woman, much less do something like this to one. He seemed to present some misc ellany of ingrained block against it †except when he was possessed by Shinichi, and couldnt control his own muscles.\r\nâ€Å"And yet Drohzne allowed you to bring this woman to a healer?” The little man looked doubtful.\r\nâ€Å"No, he wouldnt suffer permit us, Im original,” Elena said flatly. â€Å" scarcely amuse †shes bleed and shes release to lose a bodge….”\r\nDr. Meggars eyebrows went up and down. besides without asking anyone to leave epoch he treated her, he pulled out an demode stethoscope and listened carefully to Ulmas heart and lungs. He smelled her breath, and then quietly palpated her abdomen below Elenas rootagey camisole, all with a professional air, before tipping to her lips a brown feeding bottle, from which she drank a few drinks, then sank back, her eye fluttering closed.\r\nâ€Å"Now,” the little man said, â€Å"shes resting comfortably. Shell need quite a bit of stitching of course, and you could use a few stitches yourself, just now thats as your master says, I suppose.” Dr. Meggar said the intelligence operation master with a definite implication of dislike. â€Å"But I can some promise you that she wont die. to a greater extent than than or less her babe I dont know. It may come out marked as a result of this clientele †striped birthmarks, perhaps †or it may be perfectly all sort out. But with food and rest” †Dr. Meggars eyebrows went up and down again, as if the doctor would have liked to say this to Master Drohznes facial gesture †â€Å"she should recover.”\r\nâ€Å" claim care of Elena first, then,” Damon said.\r\nâ€Å"No, no!” Elena said, pushing the doctor outside(a). He seemed like a nice man, but simply around here, masters were masters †and Damon was more virtuoso(prenominal) and intimidating than most.\r\nBut not, at this event, to Elena. She didnt care nigh herself right now. Shed made a prom ise †the doctors language meant that she might be able to keep it. That was what she cared about.\r\nUp and down, up and down. Dr. Meggars eyebrows looked like two caterpillars on one elastic string. One lagged a little ass the other. Clearly, the behavior he was seeing was abnormal, change surface nonresistant to be punished by serious means. But Elena only noticed him peripherally, the way she was noticing Damon.\r\nâ€Å"Help her,” she said vehemently †and watched the doctors eyebrows shoot up as if they were aimed for the ceiling.\r\nShed allow her ambiance escape. Not completely, thank God, but a blast had definitely discharged, like a instant of sheet lightning in the room.\r\nAnd the doctor, who wasnt a vampire, but just an ordinary citizen, had noticed it. Lakshmi had noticed it; fifty-fifty Ulma stirred on the examining table uneasily.\r\nIm going to have to be a livelong lot more careful, Elena thought. She deem a quick look at Damon, who was abou t to explode, himself †she could tell. Too many emotions, too much blood in the room, and the adrenaline of killing still whim in his bloodstream.\r\nHow did she know all that?\r\nBecause Damon wasnt perfectly in control, either, she realized. She was sensing things directly from his see. Best to thread him out of here quickly. â€Å"Well wait outside,” she said, catching his arm, to Dr. Meggars obvious shock. Slaves, eventide beautiful ones, didnt act that way.\r\nâ€Å"Go and wait in the courtyard then,” the doctor said, carefully controlling his face and speech to the air in between Damon and Elena. â€Å"Lakshmi, weaken them some bandages so they can staunch the unripened girls bleeding. Then come back; you can help me.”\r\nâ€Å" salutary one question,” he added as Elena and the others were go out of the room. â€Å"How did you know that this woman is pregnant? What separate of spell can tell you that?”\r\nâ€Å"No spell,” Elena said simply. â€Å"Any woman watching her should have known.” She maxim Bonnie flash her an injured look, but Meredith remained inscrutable.\r\nâ€Å"That august slaver †Drogsie †or whatever †was whipping her from the mien,” Elena said. â€Å"And look at those gashes.” She winced, looking over two bar that crossed Ulmas sternum. â€Å"In that case, any woman would be assay to protect her breasts, but this one was try to cover her belly. That meant she was pregnant, and far along enough to be sure about it, too.”\r\nDr. Meggars eyebrows pull down and to pull backher †and then he looked up at Elena as if peering over glasses. Then he nodded slowly. â€Å"You dispense 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.\r\nOn 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 prevent wall to stare at. In the doctors waiting room, he waved an imperious hand at Bonnie and Meredith.\r\nâ€Å" gestate here in this room,” he said †no, he ordered. â€Å"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 want to be disturbed by anyone unless an angry mob is imperil the house with arson, do you understand? Both of you?”\r\nElena could see Bonnie about to blurt out, â€Å"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 sistership rebellion. They all knew Plan A for this: Bonnie would throw herself into Damons arms, passionately weeping or passionately smooching him, whichever best fit the situation, while Elena and Meredith came at h im from the sides and did †well, whatever had to be done.\r\nElena, with one flash of her own eyes, had flatly nixed this. Damon was angry, yes, but she could sense that it was more with Drohzne than with her. The blood had agitate him, yes, but he was used to controlling himself in bloody situations. And she needed help with her wounds, which had begun to detriment 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 wanted to know what it was †now.\r\nWith one last comforting glance at Bonnie, Elena followed Damon through the kitchen door. It had a lock on it. Damon looked at it and opened his give tongue to; Elena locked it. Then she looked up at her â€Å"master.”\r\nHe was standing by the kitchen sink, methodically pumping water, with one hand clenched against his forehead. His hair hung over his eyes, acquire splashed, mendting wet. He didnt seem to care.\r\nà ¢â‚¬Å"Damon?” Elena said uncertainly. â€Å" atomic number 18 you…all right?”\r\nHe didnt answer.\r\nDamon? she tried telepathically.\r\nI let you urinate hurt. Im fast enough. I could have killed that bastard Drohzne with one blast of post. But I neer imagined youd get hurt. His telepathic voice was at in one case filled with the darkest kind of menace conceivable and a strange, almost gentle, calm. As if he were trying to keep all the ferocity and anger locked away from her.\r\nI 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.\r\nElena felt a bit light-headed †a little more light-headed than shed already been get holding. Damon was feeling this anguish †for her? He wasnt angry about her flagrantly breaking rules in front of crowds, maybe breaking their cover? He didnt mind looking bedrag gled?\r\nâ€Å"Damon,” she said. Hed surprised her into speaking out loud. â€Å"It †it †doesnt matter. Its not your fault. You would never even have let me do it †”\r\nâ€Å"But I should have known you wouldnt ask! I thought you were going to attack him, to jump on his shoulders and throttle him, and I was ready to help you do that, to pull away him down like two wolves taking down a big buck. But youre not a sword, Elena. some(prenominal) you think, youre a shield. I should have known that you would take the succeeding(a) blow yourself. And because of me, you got †” His eye drifted to her cheekbone and he winced.\r\nThen he seemed to get a transfix on himself. â€Å"The water is cold, but its pure. We need to clean those slashes and stop that bleeding now.”\r\nâ€Å"I dont suppose theres any wispy legerdemain around,” Elena said, half jokingly. This was going to hurt.\r\nDamon, however, straight began opening cupboards. â€Å"Here,” he said after checking only three, triumphantly coming up with a half-full bottle of Black Magic. â€Å"Lots of doctors keep this as a medicine and anesthetic. Dont worry; Ill pay him well.”\r\nâ€Å"Then I think you should have some, too,” Elena said boldly. â€Å"Come on, itll do us both good. And it wont be the first succession.”\r\nShe 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.\r\nIll get the whole of his memories back from Shinichi somehow, Elena decided, doing her best to screen 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 leave. I swear.\r\nDamon had filled two goblets with the rich, heady-smelling wine and was handing one to Elena. â€Å"Just sip at first,” he said, helpless but to fall into the role of instructor. â€Å"This is a good year.”\r\nElena 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.\r\nDamon, she noticed, had forgotten to sip as well, and when he offered her a second glass to match his, she accepted willingly.\r\nHis aura sure had calmed down a lot, she thought, as he picked up a wet cloth and began, light, 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 flowing again, to improve it. With two glasses of Black Magic on top of no food since breakfast, Elena found herself relaxing against the back of the chair, let her head drop back a little, and closing her eyes. She lost track of time, as he stroked the cut smoothly. And she lost strict control of her aura.\r\nWhen she ope ned her eyes it was in response to no sound, no optic stimulus. It was a blaze in Damons aura, one of choppy determination.\r\nâ€Å"Damon?”\r\nHe was standing over her. His darkness had flared out behind him like a shadow, tall and replete(p) and almost mesmerizing. Definitely almost frightening.\r\nâ€Å"Damon?” she said again, uncertainly.\r\nâ€Å"Were not doing this right,” he said, and her thoughts flashed at once to her disobedience 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.\r\nâ€Å"How…do 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 cutaneous senses †her hair so softly that she hadnt even felt it.\r\nâ€Å"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. â€Å"We can clean them. We can start them bleeding again †or stop them.”\r\nIve felt like this before, Elena thought. Hes talked to me like this before, too, even if he doesnt remember. And I †I was too frightened. But that was before…\r\nBefore 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.\r\nâ€Å"Show me,” whispered Elena. And she knew that something else in her mind was whispering too, whispering different words. nomenclature that she would never have said if she had for a moment thought of herself as a slave.\r\nWhispering, Im yours…\r\nThat was when she felt his mouth lightly brush her mouth.\r\nAnd then she just thought, Oh! and Oh, Damon…until he moved to gently touch her cheek with his glib soft tongue, manipulating chemicals first t o 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 mortal wounds, be held tightly in check to concentrate on this simple, homely task, to heal the mark of a whiplash on a girls cheek. Elena thought it was like universe stroked with the petals of that Black Magic rose, its cool smooth petals gently sweeping away the pain, until she shivered in delight.\r\nAnd then it stopped. Elena knew that shed once again had too much wine. But this time she didnt feel sick. The deceptively light drink had bygone to her head, making her tipsy. Everything had taken on an unreal, dreamlike quality.\r\nâ€Å"It will finish 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 sens ation and enjoy every moment of it. And once again he peted her †so lightly †his lips barely brushing hers. When her head fell back, though, he didnt follow, even when, disappointed, she tried to put ram on the back of his neck. He simply waited until Elena thought things out…slowly.\r\nWe 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 kiss…and were supposed to be †oh! Her other wounds.\r\nThey 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 didnt even hurt at first †or not that much…but got worse and worse over time? And unplowed bleeding…were supposed to be stopping the bleeding until the doctor can see me….\r\nBut her next wound, the one that burned like fire now, was diagonally across her collarbone. And the third was near her knee….\r\nDamon started to g et up, to get another cloth from the sink and strip the cut with water.\r\nElena held him back. â€Å"No.”\r\nâ€Å"No? Are you sure?”\r\nâ€Å"Yes.”\r\nâ€Å"All I want to do is cleanse it….”\r\nâ€Å"I know.” She did know. His mind was open to hers, all its lush power running clear and tranquilly. She didnt know wherefore it had opened to her like this, but it had.\r\nâ€Å"But let me advise you, dont go donating your blood to some dying vampire; dont let anyone sample it. Its worse than Black Magic †â€Å"\r\nâ€Å"Worse?” She knew he was complimenting her, but she didnt understand.\r\nâ€Å"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. â€Å"And the more you drink, the more Power 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.\r\nâ€Å"Dont worry,” he added, still serious. â€Å"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.\r\nâ€Å"You know who Im thinking about?” Elena said softly, and she was surprised at how dangerous her own voice could sound, like the soft padding of solemn tigress feet. â€Å"Without asking me?”\r\nDamon tried to finesse his way out. â€Å"Well, I assumed….”\r\nâ€Å"No one knows what Im thinking about,” Elena said. â€Å"Until I tell\r\nthem.” She moved and made him kneel to look at her, questioningly.\r\nHungrily.\r\nThen, just as it was she who had made him kneel, it was she who\r\ndrew him to her wound.\r\n'