Unseen (The Vampire Diaries: The Salvation #1) 3

Deep in Germany's Black Forest, Damon sank down onto the trunk of a fallen tree. Dampness seeped through the legs of his expensive jeans, now rumpled and smeared with mud.

"I hate this," he complained, dropping his head into his hands. He was dirty and exhausted and, most of all, hungry. Thick, dark conifers rose around them, their heavy branches blocking out the sky.

Leaning against a nearby tree, Katherine glanced wearily at him without answering. Her light blond hair, usually smooth and perfect, was a tangled mess, and there was dirt on her face. Still, she was in better shape than Damon, he thought bitterly. At least she had been able to Influence people to let her feed.

They'd been fleeing across Europe for days, losing themselves in countless city crowds. Budapest, Paris, Berlin. But wherever they went, the packs of vampires had found them.

"We can't keep running," Damon said. "Maybe it's time we make a stand, choose a spot we can defend and take out as many of them as we can. We need to figure out who's behind this."

Katherine shook her head. "I don't know about you, but dying twice was enough for me. It's smarter to keep moving. We'll lose them eventually."

Damon felt a red wall of rage rising up in his mind. He was too old, too experienced, to be herded around like an animal, running from place to place in fear. Whoever was doing this, he wanted to rip them apart, feel their blood and flesh rend in his hands and between his teeth. "It would make me feel better if I killed someone," he muttered.

"Heavens." Katherine's tone was mocking. "Are you starting to regret the deal you made for little Elena? How does it go? You can't feed unless you romance them first?"

"Stop it," Damon said, suddenly feeling more tired than angry. "I'll kill whoever's behind this, that I promise you. The deal doesn't apply to vampires."

"Poor Damon," Katherine said, a new, softer tone in her voice. When Damon looked up, she was standing right in front of him, looking at him with clear blue eyes-a shade lighter than Elena's, his mind automatically categorized, but not really so different. She raised her wrist to her own mouth and bit down, opening her vein, and the forest was flooded with the rich scent of her blood. "Here, drink," she said, holding her arm out to him. Damon stared at her, and her mouth tightened in annoyance. "You can't keep going without anything to eat," she snapped. "You're a liability like this."

"Well, I'd hate to be a burden," Damon said with a shrug, taking her wrist and bringing it to his lips.

He hadn't tasted Katherine's blood since she first made him a vampire, and he was unprepared for the rush of memories it brought back to him. A delicate girl, hardly more than a child, appearing at dusk in the rooms of his father's palazzo. Her hair was a fine light gold, shining in the candlelight as she sank into a low curtsy. Her skin was so pale that he could see the fine blue tracery of her veins when she reached out for him, and her lips were cool when he lowered his head to meet them.

Damon's eyes were burning when he let go of Katherine's hand. Her pale pink lips parted in surprise, and he wondered if she, too, had just been transported back in time. His heartbeat quickened as he felt Katherine's blood running through him, warming him and bringing him strength. It wasn't as good as feeding on a human, but it would keep him going for a while.

"Thank you, darling," he said dryly.

Katherine's voice was light. "This whole situation should teach you not to make deals with Guardians. They're tricky, I hear."

Damon was opening his mouth to answer when a sound in the distance made him pause. He cocked his head to listen and heard it again: the crackle of footsteps on dry leaves, coming toward them, fast. "They've found us," he hissed.

He pulled his Power around him quickly, fiercely concentrating on the sensation of his own form dissolving and compacting. His bones thinned and reformed within him, changing shape, his fingers spreading into wings as his toes curled into claws. He had a moment to feel grateful for Katherine's blood: This was difficult to manage when he wasn't feeding regularly.

Then Damon, in the form of a crow, stretched his glossy black wings and rose past tree branches into the sky. He could feel the currents of air behind him shifting as Katherine took silent flight in the shape of a snowy owl.

They had escaped their enemies once more, for now. But Damon knew they couldn't keep going forever. Sooner or later, they would have to fight.

#TVD11KatherinetheTease

It was a warm, clear night. An almost-full moon shone overhead, and the scent of night-blooming jasmine rose up to Stefan on the balcony outside their apartment.

But Stefan wasn't here to appreciate the beauty of the evening. He sent out tendrils of his Power, questing, trying to sense whatever was out there. Why was he so weak?

Maybe Damon was right; maybe it was worth drinking human blood regularly for the strength it would give him. Stefan drank Elena's blood sometimes, and she drank his, but it was an act of love, not a feeding. He didn't take enough to make him strong. He swiped his hand across his face, irritated with himself, and tried to focus.

He couldn't sense anything. There was an Old One after Elena, who knew the loophole in her immortality and was sending humans after her. Stefan gripped the edge of the balcony and felt the metal begin to buckle beneath his hand. Conscientiously, he forced his fingers to relax. They didn't want to lose their security deposit.

Was that a footstep below, too light for human ears to hear? He froze, listening. The night was alive with a thousand sounds: insects buzzing, the soft beats of a bat's wings, the distant sound of traffic.

Again, almost right below, a footstep on the grass. Without stopping to think, Stefan launched himself over the rail, his canines lengthening as he leaped.

The warm, solid body beneath him let out a huff of surprise as he hit it, both of them slamming down on the ground. Human, he automatically classified, even as he reached for the throat.

It didn't matter. Human or not, he had to keep this person from Elena. But the realization slowed him a little, long enough for the figure underneath him to twist and kick hard at Stefan's chest. Stefan slammed him back onto the ground, baring his fangs-and then realized the person beneath him was Jack. For an instant, he didn't think he could stop. He didn't want to stop. Jack's heart was pounding, and Stefan's canines were sharp with anticipation. It would be easy.

He let go and rolled to one side. Jack lay flat on the ground, panting, one hand pressed against his chest.

"You're heavy," he said finally.

"I'm sorry." Stefan climbed to his feet and offered Jack a hand up. "I didn't realize it was you. I've been a little tense lately."

He could still hear Jack's heart beating, hard and fast, as he rose. Stefan averted his eyes from the vein at the side of Jack's neck, ignoring the thought of the rich blood rushing quickly beneath the skin. He needed to go out to the woods and feed properly, but guarding Elena was more important.

Jack brushed off his pants, which were covered with dirt. "Didn't mean to startle you. I'm just patrolling, keeping an eye out."

"I attacked too quickly," Stefan said, guilt slamming heavily into him. "I should have made sure of who you were before I jumped on you."

"Hey, don't worry about it." Jack waved a dismissive hand, although Stefan noticed he winced as he cautiously rolled his neck, checking to see if he was injured. "Guarding Elena is the important thing. Plus, I could totally take you down if I had to."

Stefan smiled dutifully at the joke, then stared out into the darkness, watching and listening. Far off, a car started up and drove in the opposite direction. There was no one else nearby that he could sense. "He's all I can think about," he said. "Solomon, I mean." Jack nodded, and Stefan went on. "We'd gotten to where the Old Ones weren't coming after Elena anymore. I was hunting them instead. I thought all this was over."

His hands curled into fists, and he felt his canines press sharp against his lips again, ready to bite. "We don't know where he is, and he's coming after Elena. I want to rip out his throat." Stefan glanced at Jack, feeling oddly ashamed at the admission.

Jack patted Stefan lightly on the shoulder. "This is normal, Stefan," he said reassuringly. "You feel this way because you're a warrior. Even though you're a vampire, you're a hunter, too. That means you're always prepared for a fight. And you have something worth fighting to protect."

Stefan looked up at the darkened windows of their apartment. Extending his Power, he could feel Elena sleeping deeply, her dreams troubled, but her breathing even. Jack was right, he thought. Elena was Stefan's to protect. She was worth fighting for.