07 The Return_ Midnight - L. J. Smith

minute to think of Elena and to hold Jessalyn’s eyes hypnotically. “I was a vampire—a powerful and
proud one—on Earth—but I was tricked by a kitsune…” He told her a garbled version of Stefan’s
story, omitting Elena or any nonsense about wanting to be human. He said that when he managed to
escape the prison that had taken his vampire self, he decided to end his own human life.
But at that moment, he had seen Princess Jessalyn and thought that, serving her, he would
be happy with his sorry lot. Alas, he said, it only fed his disgraceful feelings for her highness.
“Now my madness has driven me to actually accost you in your own chambers. Make an
example of me, your highness, that will cause other evildoers to tremble. Burn me, have me flogged
and quartered, put my head on a pike to cause those who might do you ill to cast themselves into a fire
first.” He was now in bed with her, leaning back a little to expose his bare throat.
“Don’t be silly,” Jessalyn said, with a little catch in her voice. “Even the meanest of my
servants wants to live.”
“Perhaps the ones that never see you do. Scullions, stable boys—but I cannot live,
knowing that I can never have you.”
The princess looked Damon over, blushed, gazed for a moment into his eyes…and then
she bit him.
“I’ll get Stefan to go down to the root cellar,” Elena said to Meredith, who was angrily thumbing tears
out of her eyes.
“You know we can’t do that. With the police right here in the house—”
“Then I’ll do it—”
“You can’t! You know you can’t, Elena, or you wouldn’t have come to me!”
Elena looked at her friend closely. “Meredith, you’ve been donating blood all along,”
she whispered. “You never seemed even slightly bothered…”
“He only took a tiny bit—always less from me than anyone. And always from my arm. I
just pretended I was having blood drawn at the doctor’s. No problem. It wasn’t even bad with Damon
back in the Dark Dimension.”
“But now…” Elena blinked. “Now—what?”
“Now,” Meredith said with a faraway expression, “Stefan knows that I’m a hunter-slayer.
That I even have a fighting stave. And now I have to…to submit to…”
Elena had gooseflesh. She felt as if the distance from her to Meredith in the room was
getting larger. “A hunter-slayer?” she said, bewildered. “And what’s a fighting stave?”
“There’s no time to explain now! Oh, Elena…”
If Plan A was Meredith and Plan B was Matt, there was really no choice. Plan C had to
be Elena herself. Her blood was much stronger than anyone else’s anyway, so full of Power that
Stefan would only need a—
“No!” Meredith whispered right in Elena’s ear, somehow managing to hiss a word
without a single sibilant. “They’re coming down the stairs. We have to find Stefan now! Can you tell
him to meet me in the little bedroom behind the parlor?”
“Yes, but—”
“Do it!”
And I still don’t know what a fighting stave is, Elena thought, allowing Meredith to take
her arms and propel her toward the bedroom. But I know what a “hunter-slayer” sounds like, and I