The Return: Shadow Souls Chapter 28

They walked indemnify by the weeping door-guards. but very quickly, they discovered that while almost every ace was seeing to dame Fazina, in whole(prenominal) populate of the rook that was o indite to the public, a black-clad, white-gloved steward awaited, ready to unwrap give away information, and to hold a watchful eye on his ladys possessions.The first base live that gave them any kind of hope was lady Fazinas H any of Harpery, a room devoted entirely to the display of reiterates, from antique, bow uniform, single-stringed instruments, undoubtedly played by individuals who were similar to cavedwellers, to t wholly, gilded, orchestral repeats interchangeable the one(a) Fazina was now playing, the music loud through fall come in the palace. Magic, Elena thought again. They seem to use it here instead of technology. distri unlessively kind of harp has a unique unwrap to c competent the strings, Meredith whispered, flavor d receive the length of the hall. On each side the line of harps marched into the distance. single of those keys major power be the key. moreover how allow for we even know? bonny was fanning herself dismayly with her peacock feather fan. Whats the difference between a harp key and the rag key?I dont know. And Ive never comprehend of a key cosmos kept in a harp, either. It would rattle slightly the sound box every cartridge holder the harp shifted slightly, Meredith admitted.Elena bit her lip. It was such(prenominal) a simple, reasonable question. She should flavour dismayed, should be wondering how they could ever occur one small half of a key in this place. in particular considering that the clue they had that it was in the Silver Nightingales instrument, absolutely seemed absurd.I dont suppose, Bonnie verbalize a unforesightful giddily, that the instrument is her voice, and that if we reach down her throatElena morose to fashion at Meredith, who was flavor heavenward or at whatsoever was above this effaceous dimension. I know, Meredith state. No more drinks for birdbrain here. Although I suppose its possible that they concede out little ash gray whistles or instruments as favors all big parties used to do that, you know give you a gift.How, Damon said in a guardedly expressionless tone, would they perchance get the key into a favor for a party being given at least weeks away, and how could they ever hope to retrieve it? Misao might as well pay told Elena, We threw the key away.Well, began Meredith, Im not at all sure that they did mean for the keys to be retrievable, even by them. And Misao could stomach meant Youd construct to search all the garbage from the night of this gala or some former(a) party Fazina performed at. I imagine she gets contracted to play at a accord of other peoples parties, in any case.Elena hated bickering, even though she was a champion bickerer herself. barely she was a goddess tonight. No affaire was impossible. If save she coul d rememberSome function equal white lightning struck her brain.For notwithstanding an instant one instant she was tail, struggling with Misao. Misao was in her fox form, biting and scratching and snarling out a reply to Elenas question intimately where the 2 halves of the fox key were. As if you would at a lower placestand the answers I could give. If I told you that one was inside the silver nightingales instrument, would that give you any kind of desire?Yes. Those had been the exact lyric poem, the real rowing that Misao had spoken. Elena keyd her own voice, repeating the course distinctly now.And indeed she felt something like an arc of lightning leave her nous except to meet anothers not far away. The next thing she knew her eye were flying o indite in surp work up because Bonnie was speaking in that blank toneless way she always did when making a predictionEach half of the fox key is shaped like a single fox, with two ears, two look, and a snout. The two fo x key halves are gold and covered with gems and their eyes are green. The key you explore is yet in the Silver Nightingales instrument.Bonnie Elena said. She could see that Bonnies knees were trembling, her eyes unfocused. wherefore they opened and Elena watched as confusion surged in to fill the blankness.Whats going on? Bonnie said, adverting around to see everyone looking at her. What what happened?You told us what the fox keys look like Elena couldnt help this exclamation almost a shout of joy. Now that they knew what they were looking for they could free Stefan they would free Stefan. Nothing would end Elena now. Bonnie had however helped move this quest to an entirely different level. only while she was quaking inside with joy at the prophecy, Meredith, in her own level-headed way, was fetching care of the prophet. Meredith said quietly, Shes credibly going to faint. Would you pleaseMeredith didnt have to ask further, for the lamias, Damon and Sage, were each quick comely to catch and support Bonnie on opposite sides. Damon was staring down at the diminutive girl in surprise.Thanks, Meredith, Bonnie said, and let out a breath, blinking. I dont think Ill faint, she added, and thusly with a glance up at Damon through her lashes, But its probably just as well to make sure.Damon nodded and got a better grip, looking serious. Sage turned half away, seeming to have something stuck in his throat.What did I say? I dont rememberAnd after Elena had solemnly repeated Bonnies legers it was just like Meredith to say, Youre sure now, Bonnie? Does that sound right?Im sure. Im positive, Elena trimmed in. She was positive. The Goddess Ishtar and Bonnie had unlocked the past for her and shown her the key. all(prenominal) right. What if Bonnie and Sage and I take this room, and two of us can be distracting the steward, while the trinity looks in the harps for keys? Meredith suggested.Right. Lets do it Elena said.Merediths plan proved to be more achievey in practice than it sounded. thus far with two glorious young girls in the room and one terminally fit guy, the steward kept rotate in little circles and catching one or another of them dis execute and peering into a harp.Naturally, the handling was strictly forbidden. It put the harps further out of tune and it could easily damage them, especially since the only way to make suddenly sure that a small golden key was not in a harps sound box was to actually shake the harp and listen for rattling.Worse, each of the harps was displayed in its own little box, complete with dramatic lighting, a flamboyant painted screen behind it (most of them portraits of Fazina playing the harp in question), and a plush red rope across the front of the nook that said Keep Out as plainly as a sign.In the end Bonnie, Meredith, and Sage resorted to having Sage Influence the steward to be entirely passive something he was only able to do for a few minutes of time, or the steward would notice the gaps i n Lady Fazinas program. They would then each frantically search harps while the steward stood like a wax figure.Meanwhile Damon and Elena were wandering the palace, looking through the loosening of the mansion that was score-limits to visitors. If they lay out nothing, they intended to search the more procurable rooms as the gala continued.It was terrible work, this stealing in and out of darkened, cor dod-off often locked empty rooms dangerous and strangely thrilling to Elena. Somehow, it seemed that headache and passion were more closely related than she had spaciousy realized. Or at least, it seemed that way with her and Damon.Elena couldnt help noticing and admiring little things about him. He seemed to be able to pick any lock with a single little enforce he affirmd from inside his black jacket, the way other people produce commencement pens, and he had such a swift, graceful way of winning the pick out and putting it digest in. Economy of motion, she knew, earned by living for around five centuries.Also, no one could argue it Damon seemed to nourish his head in any situation, which made them a good distich right now when she was striding around like a goddess who could not be bound by the rules of mortals. This was even enhanced by the scares she got shapes that looked like guards or sentries looming up at her turned out to be a stuffed bear, a slim cupboard, and something Damon didnt allow her more than a glimpse of, but what looked like a mummified human. Damon wasnt fazed by any of them.If I could just convey some more Power to my eyes, Elena thought, and things immediately brightened up. Her Power was obeying herGod Ill have to wear this rationalize for the rest of my life it makes me musical note sopowerful. Sounashamed. Ill have to wear it to college, if I ever get to college, to impress my professors and to Stefans and my married couple just so people understand Im not a adulteress and to the beach, just to give the guys som ething to ogleShe stifled a giggle and was impress to see Damon glance with mock reproach at her. Of course, he was as closely focused on her as she was on him. But it was a slightly different case, of course, because, to his eyes, she wore a big label with STRAWBERRY batch written on it, tied around her neck. And he was getting starved again. Very supperless.Next time Im going to see that you eat right on before you go out, she thought at him.Lets worry about win this time before we start planning for next time, he returned, with just the faintest firefly hint of his 250-kilowatt smile.But it was all mixed in, of course, with a little of the sardonic triumph that Damon always carried with him. Elena swore to herself that laugh at her as he might, beg her as he might, threaten or cajole as he might, she wouldnt give Damon the satisfaction of even one nip tonight. He could just pop the top off another jam pot, she thought.Eventually, the angelic music of the concert was excus eed and Elena and Damon dashed back to meet with Bonnie, Meredith, and Sage in the Harpery Hall. Elena could have reckoned the news by Bonnies stance, even if she hadnt already known from Sages silence. But the news was worse than Elena could have imagined not only had the three set nothing in the Harpery Hall, but they had finally resorted to quizzing the steward, who could speak, if not move, under Sages Influence.And guess what he told us, Bonnie said, and added before anyone could venture a word, Those harps are each cleaned and tuned every single day. Fazina has, like, a whole work upy of servants for them. And anything, anything that didnt be farseeing to a harp would be reported at once. And nothing has been It just isnt at that placeElena felt herself shrink from omniscient goddess to baffled human. I was worried it would be like this, she admitted, sighing. It would have been just too easy the other way. All right, Plan B. You mingle with the gala guests, trying to get a look at each room thats open to the public. Try to dazzle Fazinas interact and pump him for information. See if Misao and Shinichi have been here recently. Damon and I will keep looking in the rooms that are supposed to be closed(a) off.Thats so dangerous, Meredith said, frowning. Im afraid of what the penalty might be if youre caught.Im afraid of what the penalty might be to Stefan if we dont find this key tonight, Elena retorted shortly, and turned on her heel, leaving.Damon followed her. They searched undated darkened rooms, now not even knowing whether they were looking for a harp or something else. early Damon would check if on that point were a vivacious body inside the room (there might be a vampire guard, of course, but there wasnt much to do about that), then he picked the lock. Things were working seamlessly until they reached a room at the end of a long hall facing west Elena had long since gotten lost in the palace, but she could unerringly speciate west, beca use it was where the bloated sun hung.Damon had picked the lock of this room and Elena had originally started prior eagerly. She searched the room, which contained, frustratingly, a silver-framed picture of a harp, but with nothing as commodious as the half of the fox key inside it, even when she had carefully used Damons lock pick to unscrew the backing.It was while she was placing this picture back on the wall that they both heard the thump. Elena winced, praying that none of the black-suited security servants who roamed the palace had heard the noise.Damon quickly put a hand over her spill and dialed the gaslight knob into darkness.But they both could hear it nowfootsteps approaching from external in the hallway. Someone had heard the thump. The footsteps preventiveped outside the door and there was the distinct sound of an upper servants discreet cough.Elena whirled, feeling in that arcminute as if Wings of Redemption were within her reach. It would only require the slight est rise in adrenaline and she would have the security worker on his or her knees, sobbing in the penitence of a lifetimes work at evil. Elena and Damon would be gone before But Damon had another idea, and Elena was startled into going on with it.When the door opened silently a moment later, the steward found a couple locked in such a tight breed that they seemed not even to notice the intrusion. Elena could practically feel his indignation. The desire of a couple of guests to discreetly embrace in the privacy of Lady Fazinas more public rooms was understandable, but this was part of the private household. As he turned the lights up, Elena peeked at him out of the corner of her eye. Her psychic aces were open enough to catch his thoughts. He was going over the valuables in the room with an experience but bored gaze. The exquisite miniature vase with the trailing roses picked out in rubies and emerald-encrusted vines the magically preserved 5,000-year-old wooden Sumerian lyre th e twin pair of lusty gold compact discsticks in the shape of rearing dragons the Egyptian funerary masquerade party with its dark, elongated eyeholes seeming to watch out of its brilliantly painted featuresall were here. It wasnt even as if her ladyship kept anything of great value here, but still, This room is not part of the public display, he told Damon, who merely clasped Elena closer.Yes, Damon seemed very goaded to put on a good show for the stewardor something like that. But hadnt they alreadydone so? Elenas thoughts were losing coherency. The last thingthe very last thing that they could affordwas tolose the chance of finding the fox key. Elena started to pull away, and then realized that she mustnt.Mustnt. Not couldnt. She was shoes, expensive property to be sure, decked out the way she was tonight, but Damons to dispose of as he chose. While someone else was looking on, she must not seem to decline her masters wishes.Still, Damon was taking this too farfarther than h e had ever interpreted liberties with her, although, she thought wryly, he didnt know that. He was caressing the skin go away unprotected by the ivory goddess dress, her arms, her back, even her hair. He knew how she liked that, how she could in some manner feel it when her hair was held and the ends caressed softly or gently crushed in a fist.Damon She was down to the last resort now pleading. Damon, if they detain us, or do anything to us that keeps us from finding the key tonight when will we have another chance?She let him feel her desperation, her guilt, even the unsafe desire she had to forget everything and let each minute carry her further on this wave of ardor that he had created. Damon, Illsay it if you want. Imbegging you. Elena could feel her eyes prickling as tears flooded them. No tears. Elena heard Damons telepathic voice gratefully. in that location was something strange about it, though. It couldnt be famishment hed had her blood not much more than two hours ago. And it wasnt passion, for she could hear and sense that, all too clearly. Yet Damons telepathic voice was so soused with control that it almost frightened her. More, she knew he could feel that it frightened her and that he chose to do nothing about it. No explanation. No exploration, either, she realized as she found that behind the control, his mind was entirely bar to her.The only thing she could liken the feeling that she got from his steely control was pain. Pain that was just on the edge of the endurable.But from what? Elena wondered helplessly.What could cause him pain like that?Elena couldnt waste their time on wondering what was revile with Damon. She turned up the Power of her own hearing and began to listen at the doors before they entered.It was while she was listening that suddenly a new idea solidified in Elenas mind, and she stopped Damon in a pitch-dark hallway and well-tried to explain to him what kind of room she was looking for. What, in modern days, wo uld be called a home office.Damon, well-known(prenominal) with the architecture of great mansions, took her, after only a few fabricated starts, into what was clearly a ladys writing room. Elenas eyes were by now as keen as his in the dimness as they searched by the light of a single candle.While Elena was being frustrated after meddlesome a remarkable desk with pigeonholes for secret drawers, and not finding any, Damon was checking the hallway.I hear someone outside, he said. I think its time to leave now.But Elena was still looking. And as her eyes raced across the room she saw a small writing desk with an antique chair and an assortment of various pens, from ancient to modern, flaunting themselves from elaborate holders.Lets go while its still clear, Damon murmured impatiently.Yes, Elena said distractedly. All rightAnd then she saw.Without an instants hesitation she strode across the room to the desk and picked up a pen with a brilliant silver plume. It wasnt a genuine quil l pen, of course it was a fountain pen made to look elegant and old-fashioned with a plume. The pen itself was curved to fit her hand, and the wood felt warm.Elena, I dont feel veryDamon, shhh, Elena said, ignoring him, too absorbed in what she was doing to unfeignedly hear. First try to write. No go. Something was blocking the cartridge. Second unscrew the fountain-pen carefully, as if to replenish its cartridge, while all the time her heart was clamoring in her ears and her turn over were shaking. Keep moving slowlydont miss anythingfor Gods sake dont let anything bead away and bounce in this dimness. The two parts of the pen move in her handand onto the dark green desk pad fell a small, heavy, curved piece of metal. It had just fit inside the widest part of the pen. She had it in her hand and was reassembling the pen before she could get a good look at it. But thenshe had to open her hand and see.The small lunate object dazzled her eyes in the light, but it was just like th e description Bonnie had given Elena and Meredith. A tiny representation of a fox with a nominal body and a jewel-encrusted head that sported two flat ears. The eyes were two sparkling green stones. Emeralds?Alexandrite, Damon said in a bedroom whisper. Folklore has it that they change color in candlelight or firelight. They reflect the flame.Elena, who had been leaning back against him, recalled with a chill the way Damons eyes had reflected flame when he had been possessed the bloodred flame of the malach of Shinichis cruelty.So, Damon demanded, how did you do it?This is really one of the two pieces of the fox key?Well, its hardly something that belongs in a fountain pen. Maybe its a Crackerjack prize. But you went right to it the moment we entered the room. Even vampires need time to think, my precious princess.Elena shrugged. Its too easy, actually. When it was clear that all those harp keys were no goes, I asked myself what else was an instrument that youd find in someones hou se. A pen is a writing instrument. Then I just had to find out whether Lady Fazina had a study or writing room.Damon let out a breath. Hells demons, you little innocent. You know what Ive been looking for? Trap doors. Secret entries to dungeons. The only other instrument I could think of was an instrument of torture and youd be impress at how many of them youll find in this fair city.But not in her house Elenas voice rose dangerously, and they were both silent a moment to make up for it, listening, on tenterhooks, for any sound from the hallway.There was none.Elena let out her breath. Quick Where, where will it be safe? She was realizing that the one fault of the goddess dress was that there was absolutely no place to hide anything. Shed have to speak to Lady Ulma about that for next time.Down, down in the pocket of my jeans, Damon said, seeming to be as urgent and shaking as badly as she was. When he had jammed it deep into the recesses of his black Armani jeans he caught her by both hands. Elena Do you realize? Weve done it. Weve actually done itI know Tears were leaking out of Elenas eyes and all of Lady Fazinas music seemed to be swelling in one great, perfect chord. We did it unitedlyAnd then somehow like all the other somehows that were getting to be a habit with them, Elena was in Damons arms, sliding her own arms under his jacket to feel his warmth, his solidity. She wasnt surprised, either, to feel a double piercing at her throat when she dropped her head back her lovely panther was really only a little tamed, and needed to learn a few bedrock of dating etiquette such as you kiss before you bite.He had said he was hungry earlier, she remembered, and she had ignored him, too enthralled by the silver pen to put the words together. But she put them together now, and mum except why he seemed to be so exceptionally hungry tonight.Maybe evenexcessively hungry.Damon, she thought gently, youre taking a lot.She could feel no response but the raw hunger of the panther.Damon, this could be dangerousfor me. This time Elena put as much Power as she could into the words she sent.Still no response from Damon, but she was floating now, down into darkness. And that gave her the dumb thread of an idea.Where are you? Are you here? she called, picturing the little boy.And then she saw him, chained to his boulder, curled up in a ball, with his fists application his eyes.Whats wrong? Elena asked immediately, floating near to him, concerned.Hes lossing Hes hurtingAre you hurt? Show me, Elena said instantly.No Hes hurting you. He could kill youHusshh. Husshhh. She tried to cradle him.We have to make him hear usAll right, Elena said. She really was feeling odd and weak. But she turned, along with the child, and cried voicelessly Damon Please Elena says stopAnd a miracle happened.Both she and the child could feel it. The little sting of fangs being withdrawn. The stop of energy flow from Elena to Damon.And then, ironically, the miracle began t o take her away from the child, with whom she really wanted to speak.No Wait she tried to tell Damon, clinging to the childs hands as hard as she could, but she was being catapulted back to consciousness as if by a hurricane. The darkness faded. In its place was a room, too bright, its one candle blazing like a police searchlight aimed directly at her. She shut her eyes and felt the warmth and heaviness of the corporeal Damon in her arms.Im bad Elena, can you speak? I didnt realize how much There was something wrong with Damons voice. Then she understood. Damons fangs were unretracted.Wha ? Everything was wrong. Theyd been so happy, but but now her right arm felt wet.Elena pulled away from Damon entirely, staring at her arms, which were red and with something that wasnt paint.She was still too worked up to ask questions properly. She slipped behind Damon and pulled his black leather jacket off him. In the brilliant light she could see his black silk shirt mar by line after lin e of dried, partially dried, or just plain wet blood.Damon Her first reaction was horror without a touch of guilt or understanding. What happened? Did you get in a fight? Damon, tell meAnd then something in her mind presented her with a number. Since she had been a child, she had been able to count. In fact. shed learned to count to ten before her first birthday. Therefore, shed had seventeen full years of learning to count the number of irregular, deep, still-bleeding cuts in Damons back.Ten.Elena looked down at her own bloody arms and at the goddess dress, which was now the horror dress because its pure milky whiteness was marred with brilliant red.Red that should have been her blood. Red that must have felt like sword slashes into Damons back as he channeled the pain and the marks of the Night of her Discipline from her to him.And he carried me all the way home. The thought came swimming in from nowhere. Without a word about it. I would never have known.And he still hasnt healed. Will he ever heal?That was when she started screaming on all frequencies.