Salvation (TVD Fan Fiction)

Chapter 32

Damon's POV

"What the hell happened?" I shouted as I slammed the car door. Rhiannon, a conscious Alaric, and fucking Elijah of all people were huddled together on the glass-covered sidewalk.

Momentarily I was distracted by the sight of Elijah, who was knelt closely to Rhi's left side, entirely too close to her for my comfort. My nose wrinkled involuntarily and my hand twitched, desiring to send him as far away from her as possible, preferably by his neck tie.

I forced the animosity away, and focused instead on Alaric. His eyes were alert, and his heartbeat seemed completely normal. There were remnants of drying blood around the curve of his mouth, and initially I presumed Rhi had saved him. But then I recalled that Rhiannon's blood did not work in the same manner a normal vampire's did. Rhi's could neither heal human's or convert them into vampires with her blood. My eyes unwillingly flickered over to Elijah again, and reluctantly I realized that I was once again in debt to him for saving my friend.

"Just another near death experience," Ric joked as he answered my question, shaking his head as he looked over his shoulder at the destroyed window. "Pretty much a typical Friday night," he added, twisting his clunky Gilbert ring around his finger and eyeing me knowingly.

Christ! I had forgotten all about his damn ring. I had been too absorbed in my own failed plans and worried about Rhi to think clearly. I made a mental note to clue her in how the ring worked later.

I exhaled a huge sigh of relief and lowered myself into a crouch next to Rhi. I ran my hands over my face as I leaned into her, drawing comfort from her closeness as I continued to digest that Ric was alive, not dead like I had believed only moments before. Inhaling a deep breath, I was instantly enveloped in the warm familiar scent of sweet jasmine, but my mood shifted as I realized Rhi's scent was tainted with the smell of her blood. Automatically, I looked over to inspect the despondent girl at my side.

Rhi? I projected to her, but nothing came back to me.

Her knees were skinned, and I stiffened as I realized the whole right side of her body seemed to be marred with slowly healing abrasions. Rhi's new dress was now covered in blood, and parts of it seemed little more than shreds of fabric. Even one of her shoes was missing inexplicably. Eager to see her face, I carefully brushed back the curtain of her long cinnamon-colored hair and growled when I saw the half-healed scrape across her right cheekbone. I tried to get a grasp on the direction of her thoughts, but it was useless. Rhi's eyes remained downcast and unfocused, as unresponsive as the rest of her seemed to be.

"Hey," I murmured to her softly, as lifting my hands to hold the uninjured parts of her angelic face. "Look at me."

Reluctantly, Rhiannon peered up to look at me through her dark eyelashes. I could see plainly that she had been crying, as her emerald eyes were still watered and her bruised and bloodied cheeks were streaked with tears. I continued my efforts to break through the obscurity and get a read on her thoughts, but there was nothing there.

"This is all my fault," Rhi mumbled dejectedly, and her green eyes threatened to spill over with more tears.

Was she kidding?

"Please tell me you're joking," I replied, sighing deeply when I saw that she wasn't. I was just about to address all the reasons why none of this was her fault, but I was rudely interrupted.

"Rhiannon, you should not shoulder the blame for any of this," Elijah began. "If anything, the responsibility for all that has transpired is my own. I should have kept a closer eye upon my siblings. I should have anticipated they would conspire to retaliate against you, and stopped them sooner."