Meredith was worried about Stefan. Those haunted green eyes . . . they'd used to be a brighter leaf green. Now they were dark as emerald. The tightly molded planes of his face, the beauty of his features, the soft promise of his mouth were all there . . . but still, somehow, these days Stefan managed to look like a condemned man. It wasn't just since the monster had started attacking Fell's Church. It was since losing Elena. Stefan had become the most beautiful walking shadow of his former self.
Fear assailed her suddenly, and she had to know about their champion. "Stefan? With human blood in your veins, and White Ash in your hands, how do you rate your chances?" she asked him.
"How can I know? All I do know is that I'll fight him with everything I have; with everything you're giving me."
With what they were giving him. A wry, mocking voice started in Meredith's head. Making a bargain with the devil? You're going to let this lesser fiend have his way with you, breech your veins, just so he can go into a hopeless battle with a greater devil?
Yes. Oh, yes, indeed. She'd do much more than give her blood to a halfbroken lost soul like Stefan if it would allow her a chance to save Fell's Church. Revenge . . . even revenge for her grandfather and Sue Carson . . . was pointless. If everyone insisted on revenge then the world would be full of maimed things: widows and orphans and gibbering phantoms. But if Stefan wasn't able to stop that monster tonight, the monster would blaze through Fell's Church, and leave it ruined in his wake. Hundreds of gibbering phantoms . . .
Grandfather . . .
Grandfather, there's a real devil loose and nobody fit to stand up to him. And Damon may have—how would Stefan put it?—already played us false. He's not a very good choice of ally. But what I know is that Stefan won't. Stefan will hang in there until he stops that thing, even if it means he has to die.
I have to help him in any way I can. She wondered why she was telling herself this, why she was so vehement. But the answer was too obvious. She was facing an old fear now with Stefan. Since her grandfather's—breakdown—she had a terror and a disgust for vampires. She'd been young enough to believe him and develop that. Now, was she woman enough to hold herself still and face those translucent needlelike fangs when they were hovering over her throat?
It was time to see.
YOU ARE READING
Blood Will Tell...
Fantasy"This is a fantasy of a fantasy. The idea is: what might have happened at the end of Dark Reunion if Stefan had been persuaded to drink the blood of his three friends in order to be more powerful when he fought that night. It might have happened som...
