The Return: Shadow Souls Chapter 18

Elena came confirm to the real world slowly, conflict it all the way. She sank her nails into the leather of Damons jacket, found herself wondering briefly if removing it would help, and then her humour was shattered once more by that sound a sharp, imperative knock.Damon raised his head and snarled.We are a pair of wolves, arent we? Elena thought. Fighting nail and tooth. barely, an opposite(prenominal) part of her mind supplied, that isnt stopping the knocking. He warned those female childs.Those girls decorous and Meredith And hed said non to interrupt unless the house was on fire provided, the desexualize oh, God, somethings slide byed to that poor, wretched char Shes dyingDamon was legato snarling, a trace of blood on his lips. It was tho a trace, because her second wound had really been meliorate on the nose as thoroughly as the first, the genius(a) across her cheekb unitary. Elena had no idea how pertinacious it had been since she had pulled Damon to her to kiss this foreshorten. save now, with her blood in his veins and his pleasure interrupted, he was ilk an untamed black panther in her arms.She didnt whop whether she could stop him or pull down slow him down with emerge using raw Power on him.Damon she said aloud. Out t here those are our friends. Remember? mediocre and Meredith and the healer.Meredith, Damon said, and again his lips peeled back, exposing terrifyingly hanker canines. He still wasnt in reality. If he truism Meredith now, he wouldnt be f justlyened, Elena thought and, oh yes, she k crude how her logical, thoughtful friend made Damon uneasy. They byword the world through such different eyes. She irked him equal a pebble in his shoe. But right now he mightiness bundle with that uncomfor postponeness in a way that would leave Meredith a savaged corpse.Let me go see, she said, as the knock came again couldnt they stop that? Didnt she have enough to deal with?Damons arms merely tightened some her. She fel t a flash of heat, because she knew that, even as he equaliserrained her, he was holding back so much of his strength. He didnt motive to crush her, as he could if he use a tenth of the power in his hard muscles alone.The wafture of sense of smell that washed over her made her shut her eyes briefly, helplessly, notwithstanding she knew she had to be the voice of sanity here.Damon They could be warning us or Ulma may have died.Death got through to him. His eyes were slits, the bloodred light from the kitchen shutters throwing disallow of scarlet and black across his face, making him look more lax glide byed and more demonic than ever.Youll impediment here. Damon said it flatly, with no idea of existence a master or a gentleman. He was a untamed beast protecting his match, the only creature in the world that wasnt contender or food.There was no arguing with him, not in this state. Elena would stay here. Damon would go to do whatever needed to be done. And Elena would s tay for as long as he thought necessary.Elena truly didnt know whose thoughts these put out were. She and Damon were still difficult to untangle their emotions. She decided to watch him and only if he really got out of controlYou dont want to see me out of control. mite him snap from raw animal instinct to icy, perfect mental bureau was even scarier than the animal alone. She didnt know whether Damon was the sanest person she had ever met or serious the one best able to dissemble up his wildness. She held her torn blouse unneurotic and watched as he travel with effortless grace to the door and then, suddenly, violently, wrenched it nigh off its hinges.No one hide no one had been audition in on their private conversation. But Meredith stood, restraining Bonnie with one glide by, and with the some other hand raised, ready to knock again.Yes? Damon said in glacial tones. I thought I told you You did, and there is, Meredith said, interrupting this Damon in an unusual attemp t to move suicide.There is what? Damon snarled.Theres a close up outside threatening to burn the hale building down. I dont know if theyre upset about Drohzne, or about us taking Ulma, save theyre enraged about something, and theyve got torches. I didnt want to interrupt Elenas treatment scarce Dr. Meggar put forwards they wont listen to him. Hes a human.He used to be a slave, Bonnie added, wresting free of the chokehold that Meredith had on her. She looked up at Damon with streaming brown eyes, transfer outstretched. Only you can compose us, she said, translating the message of her gaze aloud which meant that things were really serious.All right, all right. Ill go take care of them. You take care of Elena.Of course, entirely No. Damon had both foregone reckless with the blood and the memories that were still keeping Elena from forming a long sentence or he had somehow over educe all his hero-worship of Meredith. He put a hand on each of her shoulders. He was only one and a half or cardinal inches taller than she was, so he had no trouble holding her eyes. You, personally, take care of Elena. Tragedies happen here every minute of the day unforeseeable, horrible, deadly tragedies. I do not want one happening to Elena.Meredith looked at him for a long moment, and for once didnt consult Elena with her eyes before answering a skepticism involving her. She simply said, Ill protect her, in a low voice that that carried. From her stance, from her tone, one could rough notice the unspoken addition, with my life and it didnt even depend melodramatic.Damon let go of her, strode out the door, and without a backward glance disappeared from Elenas sight. But his mental voice was crystalline in her mind Youll be riskless if there is any way to save you. I swear it.If there was any way to save her. Wonderful. Elena tried to kickstart her brain.Meredith and Bonnie were both utter(a) at her. Elena took a deep breath, automatically sucked for a mome nt back into the old days, when a girl fresh from a hot envision could expect a long and serious debriefing.But all Bonnie said was, Your face it looks much take onter nowYes, Elena said, using the two ends of her blouse to tie a makeshift top nigh her. My legs the problem. We didnt didnt finish it yet.Bonnie opened her mouth, however closed it determinedly, which from Bonnie was a display of heroics convertible to Merediths promise to Damon. When she opened it again it was to guess, Take my scarf and tie it around your leg. We can fold it sideways and then tie a twine over the side that got appal. Thatll keep pressure on it.Meredith said, I pretend Dr. Meggar has finished with Ulma. possibly he can see you.In the other room, the doctor was once again washing his hands, using a prominent pump to get more water into the basin. There were deeply red-stained cloths in a pile and a smell that Elena was grateful the doctor had mask with herbs. Also in a large, comfortable-l ooking chair there sat a womanhood whom Elena did not recognize.Suffering and terror could change a person, Elena knew, but she could never have realize how much nor how much relief and exemption from pain could change a face. She had brought with her a woman who huddled until she was al most(prenominal) child-size in Elenas mind, and whose thin, ravaged face, twisted with agony and unrelenting dread, had seemed closely a test of abstract drawing of a goblin hag. Her skin had been poorly(p) gray in color, her thin hair had scarcely seemed enough to cover her head, and yet it had hung down in strands like seaweed. Everything about her screamed out that she was a slave, from the iron bands around her wrists, to her nakedness and disfigure, bloody body, to her bare and rusty feet. Elena could not even have told you the color of the womans eyes, for they had seemed as gray as the rest of her.Now Elena was confronted by a woman who was perhaps in her early-to mid-thirties. She had a lean, attractive, somehow soft face, with a strong, patrician nose, dark, keen-looking eyes, and beautiful eyebrows like the go of a flying bird. She was relaxing in the armchair, with her feet up on an ottoman, slowly brushing her hair, which was dark with occasional streaks of gray that lent an air of dignity to the simple deep blue housecoat she was wearing. Her face had wrinkles that lent it character, but overall one sensed a sort of yearning mettle about her, perhaps because of the slight bulge in her abdomen, which she now softly laid a hand on. When she did this her face bloomed with color and her whole survey glowed.For an instant Elena thought this must be the doctors wife or housekeeper and she had a temptation to ask whether Ulma, the poor wreck of a slave, had died.Then she axiom what one cuff of the deep blue housecoat could not sooner conceal a glimpse of an iron bracelet.This lean dark aristocratic woman was Ulma. The doctor had worked a miracle.A healer, h e had called himself. It was obvious that, like Damon, he could heal wounds. No one who had been rack upped as Ulma had could have come round to this state without some powerful magic. Trying to simply chalk up up the bloody mess that Elena had brought in had obviously been impossible, and so Dr. Meggar had recovered her.Elena had never experienced a situation like this, so she fell back upon the undecomposed manners that had been bred into her as a Virginian.Its nice to cope with you, maam. Im Elena, she said, and held out her hand.The brush fell onto the chair. The woman reached out with both hands to take Elenas into hers. Those keen dark eyes seemed to devour Elenas face. Youre the one, she said, and then, swinging her shodden feet off the ottoman, she went down on her knees.Oh, no, maam Please Im sure the doctor told you to rest. Its best to sit quietly now.But you are the one. For some reason, the woman seemed to need confirmation. And Elena was lead story to do anythi ng to pacify her.Im the one, Elena said. And now I imagine you should sit down again.Obedience was immediate, and yet there was a sort of joyful light about everything Ulma did. Elena dumb it after only a few hours of slavery. Obeying when one had a choice was entirely different from obeying because disobedience could mean death.But even as Ulma sat, she held out her arms. Look at me Dear seraph, goddess, Guardian whatever you are look at me by and by deuce-ace years of living as a beast I have become human again because of you You came like an angel of lightning and stood among me and the lash. Ulma began to weep, but they seemed to be snap of joy. Her eyes searched Elenas face, lingering on the scarred cheekbone. But youre no Guardian they have magicks that protect them and they never interfere. For three years, they never interfered. I saw all my friends, my fellow slaves, fall to his whip and his rage. She shook her head, as if physically unable to say Drohznes name.Im s o muddied so sorry. Elena was fumbling. She glanced back and saw that Bonnie and Meredith were similarly stricken.It doesnt matter. I heard your mate downed him on the street.I told her that, Lakshmi said proudly. She had entered the room without anyone noticing her.My mate? Elena faltered. Well, hes not my I mean, he and I we Hes our master, Meredith said bluntly, from behind Elena.Ulma was still looking at Elena with her heart in her eyes. Every day, I depart pray for your soul to ascend from here.Elena was startled. Souls can ascend from here?Of course. penitence and good deeds may accomplish it, and the prayers of others are always interpreted into consideration, I ideate.You sure dont talk like a slave, Elena mused. She tried to think of a way to put it delicately, but she was confused and her leg hurt and her emotions were in turmoil. You dont sound like well, like what Id expect from a slave, she said. Or am I just being an idiot?She could see the tears form in Ulma s eyes.Oh, God Please, forget I asked. Please No There is no one I would rather tell. If you wish to hear how I came to this degraded state. Ulma waited, watching Elena it was clear that Elenas least wish was to Ulma, a command.Elena looked at Meredith and Bonnie. She couldnt hear any more noises of yelling outside on the street and the building certainly didnt seem to be on fire.Fortunately, at that moment, Dr. Meggar wandered in again. Everybody getting acquainted? he asked, his eyebrows working in opposite now one up, one down. He had the remnants of a bottle of blackened Magic in his hand.Yes, Elena said, but I was just wondering if we should be fork outing to evacuate or anything. Apparently there was a mob Elenas mate is going to give them something to think about, Lakshmi said with relish. Theyve all gone to the contact Place to resolve the stuff about Drohznes property. I bet hell bash a few heads in and be back in no time, she added cheerfully, leaving no doubt as to he was. attentiveness I was a boy so I could see it.You were braver than the boys you were the one who led us here, Elena told her. Then she consulted Meredith and Bonnie with her eyes. It sounded as if the commotion had moved on elsewhere, and Damon was a master at getting himself out of commotions. He might alsoneed to fight, to rid himself of excess energy from Elenas blood. A commotion might actually be good for him, Elena thought.She looked at Dr. Meggar. pull up stakes my willing our master be all right, do you think?Dr. Meggars eyebrows went up and down. Hell probably have to pay Old Drohznes relatives a blood price, but it shouldnt be too high. Then he can do what he likes with the old bastards property, he said. Id say the safest place for you right now is here, out-of-door from the Meeting Place. He went on to enforce that opinion by move them all glasses liqueur glasses, Elena noted of Black Magic wine. ripe(p) for the nerves, he said and took a sip.Ulma smiled her beautiful, heartwarming smile at him, as he took the tray around. Thank you and thank you and thank you, she said. I wont bore you with my base No, tell us tell us, please Now that there was no immediate danger to her friends or to Damon, Elena was eager to hear the tale. Everyone else was nodding.Ulma flushed a little, but began sedately, I was born in the reign of Kelemen II, she said. Im sure that essence nothing to our visitors but much to those who knew him and his indulgences. I studied under my mother, who became a very popular antecedent of fashions in fabrics. My father was a designer of jewelry almost as famous as she was. They had an estate on the outskirts of the city and could afford a house as fine as many of their wealthiest customers though they were careful not to show the true purpose of their wealth. I was the young Lady Ulma then, not Ulma the hag. My parents did their best to keep me out of sight, for my own safety. ButUlma Lady Ulma, Elena thought , stopped and took a deep sip of her wine. Her eyes had changed she was seeing the past, and trying not to upset her listeners. But just as Elena was about to ask her to stop, at least until she felt better, she continued.But despite all their caresomeonesaw me anyway and demanded my hand in marriage. Not Drohzne, he was just a furrier from the Outlands, and I never saw him until three years ago. This was a lord, a General, a demon with a terrible reputation and my father refused his demand. They came on us in the night. I was fourteen when it happened. And that is how I became a slave.Elena found that she was feeling emotional pain directly from Lady Ulmas mind. Oh, my God, Ive done it again, she thought, hurriedly trying to tune down her psychic senses. Please, you dont need to tell us this. Maybe another timeI would like to tell you you so you will know what you have done. And I would prefer to say it only once. But if you do not wish to hear it Politeness was warring with a droitness here. No, no, if you want go ahead. I I just want you to know how sorry I am. Elena glanced at the doctor, who was patiently waiting by the table for her with the brown bottle in his hands. And if you dont mind, Id like to get my leghealed? She was aware that shed said the last word doubtfully, wondering how any one being could have the power to heal Ulma like this. She was not strike when he shook his head. Or stitched up, rather, while you talk, if you dont mind, she said.It took several proceeding to overcome Lady Ulmas shock and distress that she had left her savior waiting, but at last Elena was on the table and the doctor was encouraging her to salute from the bottle, which smelled like cherry cough syrup.Oh, well, she might as well try the Dark Dimension version of anesthetic especially since the stitching was set to hurt, Elena thought. She took a sip from the bottle and felt the room reel around her. She waved away the offer of a second sip.Dr. Meggar undid Bonnies ruined scarf, and then began to cut off her blood-soaked jeans leg above the knee.Well you are so good to listen, Lady Ulma said. But I knew you were good already. I will scanty us both the painful details of my slavery. Perhaps its enough to say that I was passed from one master to another over the years, always a slave, always going down. At last, as a joke, someone said, consider her to Old Drohzne. Hell squeeze the last use out of her if anyone can.God Elena said, and hoped that everyone would allot it to the story and not to the bite of the cleansing solution the doctor was swabbing over her swollen flesh. Damon was so much better at this, she thought. I didnt even realize how lucky I was before. Elena tried not to wince as the doctor began to use his needle, but her grip on Merediths hand tightened until Elena was afraid she was breaking bones. She tried to ease the grip, but Meredith squeezed back hard. Her long, sedate hand was almost like a boys, but softer. Elena was glad to be able to squeeze as hard as she liked.My strength has been good-looking out on me lately, Lady Ulma said softly. I thought it was that here she used a particularly crude expression for her owner that was leading me to death. Then I realized the truth. All at once incandescence changed her face, so much that Elena could see what she must have looked like when she was in her teens and so beautiful that a demon would demand her as a wife. I knew that new life stirred within me and I knew that Drohzne would kill it if he had the chance She didnt seem to recognize the expressions of astonishment and horror on the three girls faces. Elena, however, had the feeling that she was groping through a nightmare, on the run into of a black crevasse, and that she would have to keep groping in the dark, around treacherous, unseen fissures in the ice in the Dark Dimension until she reached Stefan and got him free of this place. This casual reference to abomination wasnt th e first of her steps around a crevasse, but it was the first she had recognized and counted.You young women are very new here, Lady Ulma said, as the silence stretched and stretched. I did not mean to say anything out of place.Were slaves here, Meredith replied, picking up a length of rope. I think the more we learn the better.Your master Ive never seen anyone so wide awake to fight Old Drohzne before. Many people clucked their tongues, but that was all most dared to do. But your master We call him Damon, Bonnie put in pointedly.It went right over Lady Ulmas head. Master Damon do you think he might keep me? After he pays the blood price to to Drohznes relatives, he will get first pick of all Drohznes property. I am one of the few slaves he has not killed. The hope in the womans face was almost too painful for Elena to look at.It was only then that she consciously realized how long it had been since shed seen Damon. How long should Damons business be taking? She looked at Meredi th anxiously.Meredith understood exactly what the look meant. She shook her head helplessly. Even if they had Lakshmi take them to the Meeting Place, what could they do?Elena bit back a wince of pain and smiled at Lady Ulma.Why dont you tell us about when you were a girl? she said.