Elena closed her eyes. “I take it this story means you found him.”
“Yes. Our good Dr. Wilson didn’t know exactly where he was, but he did have a name, and he knew which airfield they were using. The pilot had to file a flight plan, and his name was on it. Once I found him, he did know where our nasty little entrepreneur was. It wasn’t that hard to track him down after all, actually. It’s what you get when you think that vampires aren’t people. Likely didn’t think any of us would know how to find him.”
He sounded pleased with himself. “Are the pilot and this businessman still alive?” she whispered.
Damon’s lips pressed against the top of her head again. “The pilot is. I just compelled him, easy work. The businessman though? Do you really want to ask me that?”
She didn’t, not really. She knew what happened to him. She’d known from the moment Damon left her safe again with Bonnie and the Sheriff to go and find him.
“So we’re safe?” she asked instead.
He chuckled. “Well, as safe as we ever were. In a lot of ways, this whole mess was only really a threat to new vampires, those of us who don’t know how to hide ourselves well enough from people like Wilson, who at least know the basics of what to look for to identify us.” He hugged her to show he meant no insult and his voice turned wry. “Plus all the vamps like me who don’t look where they’re going and fall into traps dug into the floor of warehouses.”
Elena giggled. “It’s not your fault. You were worried about me.”
“Never.”
She smiled and propped her chin against his chest so she could direct that smile up at him. “You were too.”
He looked away, nose lifted in mock grandiosity. “Was not. I tripped, that’s all.”
“Tripped, did you? That’s your excuse?”
“That’s what I’m planning to tell everyone.”
She laughed and felt the last of the tension of the day drain out of her. A nice sense of peace replaced it. She was home, she was safe, she wasn’t hungry enough to feel any pull of the vampire in her, and she was with the man she loved. “They’ll believe that, will they?” she teased.
“Hey, it’s a good excuse,” he protested, “and a great sacrifice for me to admit. Tripping is very embarrassing for someone as suave and coordinated as I am. I have a reputation to maintain, after all.”
“Of course you do,” she whispered and leaned up to kiss him. He returned it with loving enthusiasm, his arms hugging her to him tightly enough that she was lucky she was a vampire or he would have crushed her ribs. Instead she hugged him back and closed her eyes, enjoying the embrace. There wasn’t anything else to worry about. She was home with her lover and both of them were safe and would stay that way, so long as they were together.
THE END
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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Digital painting, knitting, and book binding are my hobbies right now, along with a lot of web browsing and art appreciation. I was born in Ottawa, Ontario. I was an Air Force brat as a kid and now I’m in the Air Force myself.
The Vampire Diaries: A Cage of Burning Light (Kindle Worlds Novella) Page 8