Heartlines ▹ Elena Gilbert [1]

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
DEAL WITH THE DEVIL

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     The next morning, after a night spent tossing and turning in her bed rather than sleeping, Rowan walked downstairs already dressed. She could hear Damon and Stefan bickering back and forth in the living room, so she made her way there, only pausing long enough to grab a blood bag from the kitchen. One was left abandoned on the island, probably left there once they found out Elijah was missing from the basement. Rowan had heard the commotion when he had woken up. He hadn't been quiet or gentle when he had been slamming against walls and doors, trying to find his way out of a house he hadn't been invited into. Rowan had winced when she had heard it, but she had also been satisfied. At least now she knew what would happen if she was inside of a house she wasn't invited into.

Walking into the living room and sipping up the blood through the tube like a straw, she raised her eyebrows at the sight she came across. Stefan was rubbing at his temples, his head bowed in frustration, while Damon paced back and forth across the length of the room. He was mumbling in annoyance under his breath. She watched them for a moment, amused, before Stefan finally seemed to notice her presence in the doorway. He raised his head to look at her, looking exhausted, and Rowan felt a flash of sympathy. She offered him a comforting smile as she walked deeper into the room.

"You two look extra broody today," was her way of greeting them. Damon froze where he was pacing, shooting her a positively livid look. She whistled under her breath and feigned ignorance. "What's going on?" Damon's jaw clenched.

"Elena has lost her damn mind, that's what's going on," Damon seethed, furious at her stunt. Rowan raised an eyebrow. Stefan, looking mildly annoyed, opened his mouth to defend Elena like he always did. Rowan, for her part, didn't much like the plan either, but she had promised, and she never broke her promises no matter how stupid the promise was. She didn't speak up when Damon rounded on Stefan and said, "We all betrayed this guy—an Original, for crying out loud—not even two months ago and now she took the dagger out of him. The dagger she had to stab herself to even get into his chest in the first place. We're lucky he didn't slaughter the rest of us in our sleep! She broke her part of the deal twice over now, how do you think he'll react to that?" In the split second he paused to breathe, he turned on his heel to face Rowan, glaring at her accusingly. "And why did you let her do it?"

Rowan sipped a bit of blood into her mouth, swallowed, then simply said, "She made me promise." Damon, completely exasperated, threw his hands in the air and started pacing again. Rowan couldn't say she necessarily disagreed with Damon. His points were perfectly valid. They did betray Elijah, and Elena had broken her part of the deal twice over now. Elijah was fully in his right to go back on his own word at this point. She just hoped Elena's gut feeling about Elijah being honorable was worth trusting. Finishing off her blood bag, Rowan tossed it onto the coffee table and asked, "Hey, Damon, where'd you put my car keys?"