07 The Return_ Midnight - L. J. Smith

“Not at all,” Damon said crisply. “Although, if it had operated for vampires, no doubt
you would have been permanently dead when you woke up in the family vault.”
“Earlier,” Stefan said expressionlessly. “I regreted striking you a mortal blow, even as I
was dying. You’ve always said I feel too guilty, but that is one thing I would give my life to take
back.”
There was a silence that stretched and stretched. Damon was at the front of the group
now, and no one but Bonnie could see his face.
Suddenly Elena grabbed Stefan’s hand. “We still have a chance!” she told him. “Bonnie
and I saw something bright that way! Let’s run!” He and Elena passed Damon running and he grabbed
Bonnie’s hand too. “Like the wind, Bonnie!”
“But with Shinichi dead—well, do we really have to find his star ball or the biggest star
ball or whatever is hidden in this awful place?” Bonnie asked. Once, she would have whined, Elena
thought. Now, despite whatever pain she felt, she was running.
“We do have to find it, I’m afraid,” Stefan said. “Because from what he said, Shinichi
wasn’t at the top of the ladder after all. He and his sister were working for someone, someone female.
And whoever She is, She may be attacking Fell’s Church right now.”
“The odds have just shifted,” Elena said. “We have an unknown enemy.”
“But still—”
“All bets,” Elena said, “are off.”