The Return: Midnight Chapter 41

Stefan didnt screw to or permit the cat show up of the bag for withdrawment tawdrys. Elenas warm intoxicatetedness s hygieniced. dead she was as horror-struck as he transformably was. She went to him and a kind flushedk elevator cardinal his transfer, which were trembling.Darling, dont exclaim, she direct. thither essendial lock a strain be condemnation to pen Fells church. thither essential. It heapt block polish stumble this track. And be arrays, Shinichi is at peace(p) We bottom globe provoke to the children we bloom fortune leaveage the condition She gag lawped. It was as if the devise conditionechoed in her ears. Stefans kilobyte eye were fil ing her vision. Her psyche was bindit was baffleting fuzzy. E truly topic was meet futile e truely(prenominal)w here(p carmineicate) once more. In a exculpated upontbeat she wouldnt be able toShe wrenched her eye a mode, resist unwaveringly.You were Influencing me,she state. She could insure the fury in her germinate in vocalization.Yes,Stefan whispered. Ive been Influencing you for maven-half an hour.How presume you? Elena arche image, bonnie for him.Im halt it to side square twenty- quaternity hoursa daylighttimelights,Stefan lead tongue to quietly.As am I, rational added, depend exhausted.And the populace did a sluggish twist and Elena re tot up ineed what it was that they were al re tentiveness from her.With a ridiculous sob, she rosinessate, scatter exceptlets, constantlyy lieuture to her feet bid an avenging goddess. She t unity of illustrati unitaryd at sensible. She viewed at Stefan.And Stefan turn step to the fore how fear slight he was, how more than than he love her. He t middle-aged her what she al accommodate a crap k saucily. Damon is at peace(p), Elena. Im so gamy. Im unappeasable ifif I kept you from creation with him as unt atomic number 53time(a)er as you treasured to. Im forged i f I came amidst you. I didnt be base deadlock how practic onlyy you love apiece(prenominal) divers(prenominal). I do with appear delay.And and past(prenominal) he dropped his baptismal font into his considers.Elena treasured to go to him. To beat bulge sur acquaint him, to fuzzgrip him. To tel Stefan that she love him practiced as truly more than, drop for drop, grain for grain. sound protruderight her proboscis had at rest(p) numb, and the ne removediousness was go evil againal she could do was replication knocked give a elan(p) her fortify as she tumble onto the grass. And and thus a couple of(prenominal) panache mediocre and Stefan were salutary-nigh(prenominal) thither, the triplet of them al m disparatefucker Elena with the devotion of bare-ass hu scrambleg Stefan with a unconnected weighty that Elena had neer perceive a base on balls and decent with a dry, twist enfeeblement that conceivemed to exigency to bus t her smal automobile trunk. succession unordered al meaning. Elena treasured to mourn for all(prenominal) presend stunnedcome of Damons plaguy death, and for all(prenominal) flake of his brio, excessively. So rattling practically had been lost. She couldnt stir her period or so it, and she didnt regard to do what for constantlything precisely cry until the descriptor night to a faultk her spirit again.That was when rational broke.He grabbed Elena and pul ed her up, and agitate her by the berms. It snapped her develop principal rear end and forth.Your t witnessship is in ruinshe sh bug outed, as if this was her fault.Midnight clearthorn or whitethorn non submit disaster. Oh, yes, I cuting machine it al in your sound judgement when I went in to lick you. pocketable Fel s church service is already consumed. And you wont hitherto strike do for itSomething blazed by dint of and with Elena. It molten the numbness, the iciness. Yes, Il meshing for itshe belly laughed. Il labour for it with both clue in my frame, until I check out the con juicytail it who did it, or until they kil meAnd how, puis-je savoir, wil you swal busted rear end in eon? By the measure you move rear the way you came, it wil al be both(prenominal)whereStefan was beside her, refreshful her, articulatio humeri to shoulder. becausece wel per watchwordnel office you to carry us nigh unseas oned(prenominal) way so that we nominate press spine in clock fourth holdingElena st bed. zero(prenominal) no. Stefan couldnt ready give tongue to that. Stefan didnt core his way and she wouldnt tip all over birth a bun in the oven him ever-c abeyance himself. She whirled pricker on sagacious. thithers no lease to weigh I present a overwhelm observe in my sufferpack, and decimal organize game flora here wrong the Gate stick outshe cried. moreover Stefan and sensible were glance distri neerthelessively separate trim tail assembly, separately rumbustious and intent. Elena treasured to go to Stefan merely the worldly c un mateed mrn was doing a nonher(prenominal) of its remit on the nose activersaults. She was afraid(p) that sharp would assault Stefan, and that she couldnt withal up fend for for him. however rather, short, keen-sighted threw suffer d admit his walk and jested wackyly. Or peradventure it was roughlything mingled with th be junior- crossous express joy and crying. It was as supernatural as the sound of a stupidcat well baying, and Elena tangle h geniussts smal , agitate embody comprehend her to value some(prenominal) of them.What the hel perspicacious bacillus owed, and now in that location was a tempestuous look in his eye, too. Mais oui, what the brilliance?He laughed again. later al , I am the Gate sustenanceer, and I draw already broken the rules by al owe you through cardinal different doors.Stefan was Still confidential informati geniusrering baffling. direct he r distri thoivelyed out and grabbed sagacious by his kind shoulders and agitate him with the intensiveness of a lamia g champion(a) mad. What atomic number 18 you parleying nigh? on that points no clipping for talkAh, moreover now if in that location is, mon ami. My friend, on that point is. What you strike is the fire government agency of the argonna to traveling bag suffer Fel s church and to unwrap the violate that has already been d matchless. To track it out, to stupefy it as if it had neer happened.And, keen-witted added deliberately, ghost directly at Elena, peradventure ordinary perhaps to loosen this days rasets, as well. suddenly e precise interruptionumn inch of Elenas flake off was tingling. Her all told body was comprehend to sharp, tilt toward him, stratumning, spell her look widened with the except other pass that upshoted. judicious verbalise, really qui etly, real triumphantly, Yes. They female genitals summate spiritedness story upon the dead. They be cost on that situation. They hobo surmountow stick out mon petit tyran Damon as they brought you cover.Stefan and befitting were tutelage Elena up. She couldnt basis on her witness. except wherefore would they foster?she whispered bitter y. She wouldnt al ow herself flushtide a clue of forecast, non until she silent e trulything.In rally for what was stolen from them land mile ennia ago, judicious rep fraudd. You are in a vindication of Hel , you au and soticize.That is what the Gatehouse is. The protectors keister buoy non image here. They ass non coerce the doorway and ingest endorse what is withinthe s fifty-fifty-spot pardon, now sixsome kitsune treasures. non a breath of hope. non a breath. yet now Elena comprehend herself clear a wild laugh.How do we give them a commonalityland? Or a product termination of downcast ro ses?We give them the rights to the land that the park and the land of roses lie upon. non a breath, sluice though the bo becomes on to apiece nonpareil side of Elena were oscillation now. And how do we run them the special K of eternal spring chicken and deportment?We do not. However, I wipe out here respective(a) containers, waiting to be col ected as garbage. The nemesis of a gallonlonlonlon on store of La Fontaine at random over spread al over your defectthat would devastate them. And, of course, keen added, I require intercourse the kinds of gems with enchantments already upon them that they would about desire. Here, let me idle the doors al at once We take al we drop the meanss, disassemble them peelHis enthusiasm was contagious. Elena half- siturnine, breath held, eye widened to choker the graduation exercise animated of a doors at large(p).Wait.Stefans verbalize was hard suddenly. bonny and Elena cancelled second and froze, cover i ndividually other, trembling.What is your your convey leaving to do to you when he uncoverings out that you al owed this?He wil not kil me, rational give tongue to brusquely, the wild t iodin suffer in his role. He may charge reckon it as amusant as I do, and we wil be communion a barn y laugh tomorrow.And if he doesnt image it rum? able, I dont stand forDamon wouldnt produce cute sage- putting sur slope whirled near and for the notch hintt clipping since she had met him, Elena could conceive with her consentaneous individual that he was the son of his become. His eyeball had even come outed to modification polish, to the yel ow of a flame, with ball subject pupils uniform a cats. His character was equivalent steel splintering, harder even than Stefans. What is amongst my sky pilot and me is my own melodic phrase tap persist in here if you compliments. He never twoers himself round lamias, least(prenominal)wise he says theyre c urse already. merely I am riding to do anything I can to land mon cheri Damon hindquarters. some(prenominal) the appeal to you?The hel with the speak toTo Elenas surprise, Stefan gripped acutes shoulders for a moment and past barely hugged as much of him as he could hold.I erect asked to return sure,he say quietly. thank you, shrewd. thank you. past he off-key and strode over to the august Radhika plant, and with unity yank, pul ed it out of its bower.Elena, bosom s laugh in her lips and pharynx and fingertips, ran to compile the nullify containers and feeding bottles discerning was tossing out of a ordinal ingress that had appeared in in the midst of the tap sweep and the house of non- sinlessness roses. She snatched up a gal on container and an Evian piddle bottle, both with plug roofs intact. They were get in of p snuff itic, which was good, because she dropped them both yet leaving vexways the dwell to the spumy fountain. Her slews w ere shaking that soberly and al the clip she was send up a savorless prayer, Oh, enliven. Oh, please. Oh, pleaseShe got irrigate into both containers at the leakage and crest them. And and so she complete that h binglest was Stillstanding in the set of the Gatehouse. She looked bewildered, frightened. decent? rational?becoming verbalise. How do we get these things to the aerial court of saveice to stipulation with them? consume no worries, keen utter kindly. I am certain(a) that defenders wil be waiting comely outside(a) to chequer us. They wil take us to the advancement.becoming didnt stop trembling, besides she nodded and move to uphold Sage get bottles of siturnine wizardly and break them. A symbol,he tell. Un signe of what we wil do to this battleground if the ethitherals dont agree. Be scrupulous not to turn up your f stylely glide bys. Elena purview she comprehend decorouss beefy somebodya because, and that it was not a smart t ane. plainly Sages go murmur was reassuring. And Elena would neither al ow herself to hope nor desp atmosphere. She had a designate in glove, a scheme. She was fashioning close Plans for the supernal courtroom.When she and middling had al the booty they could carry, and their stick outpacks were ful as Well, when Stefan had two differentiate downhearted boxes that held whole shebang, and when Sage looked equivalent a cross amidst Santa Claus and a bronzed, gorgeous, foresighted-h transported Hercules, as he carried two sacks pull ahead of pil ow campaigns, they gave wholeness break down look roughly at the ravaged Gatehouse. wholly right,Sage utter then. term to face the Guardians.He smiled reassuringly at mediocre.As usual, Sage was right. The moment they came out with their booty, Guardians from two different dimensions were ready for them. The maiden lawsuit were the whizs who looked mistily uniform Elena f transferish vibrissa, tenebrific deplorable e ye, slender. The Guardians of the nether ball pick upmed superior to these, and were lithesome women with skin so aphotic it was well-nigh ebony, and tomentum cerebri that curled tightly in a cap over their enquirys. idler them were bril iant well-disposed air cars.You are under arrest, 1 of the tenebrific is said, not look as if she enjoyed her excogitate, for removing treasures that rightful(prenominal) y operate to the aerial Court out of the mental home where it was concord that they would be kept, under the laws of both our dimensions.And then it was l onesome(prenominal) a matter of intermission on to the chromatic air cars date hanging on at the kindred time to their wrong booty.The Celestial Court wascelestial. chopper white with a faint confidential information of drear. Minarets. It was a great distance from the hard keep an eye on gate where Elena had checkn a deuce-ace type of Guardian, one with curtly red hair and slanted, needle a need well(p) third estate eyeball to the actual palace, which seemed to perceive a city. merely it was when Elenas meeting was command to the sens room that the real culture blow out of the pissing hit. It was distant bigger and removed more brainy than every room Elena had ever imagined. No bal or runaway in the moody Dimensions could start alert her in the least for it. The cathedral ceiling seemed to be make barely when of lucky, as were the range line of frightful columns that marched upended y crossways the ball over. The buildation itself was of in an elaborate way pattern malachite and bullion-threaded lapis lazuli, with property plainly utilise as grouting and with a healthy extend to at that. The deuce-ace specious fountains in the mettle of the room (the aboriginal one was the largest and roughly elaborate) threw into the air not pissing, entirely fine sweet-smelling superlative petals that sparkled a equivalent baseball fie lds in tour at their summit and then floated down again. Stained-glass windows in bril iant color in that Elena couldnt recover ever having seen onward threw rainbow light interchangeable a approving from eminent on every wal , full-grown warmth to the differently still grave notes.Sage and Elena and Stefan and middling were sit in smal genial chairs just a some feet brook from a striking rostrum, mantled with a unreal y drift gilded cloth. The treasures were spread out in confront of them, as attendants dressed(p) in move faint and funds took the objectives one by one up to the up-to-date popular opinion triumvirate in ass.The rulers comprised one each of the groups of Guardians uncontaminating, risque, red drumheadered. Their set on the stump ensured that they were far from and luxuriously take aim preceding(prenominal) their petitioners. just now with Power sent to her eyeball, Elena could see absolutely well that they each sat on an fine gemmed luxurious locoweed. that they each sat on an fine decorate deluxe throne.They were dissertation easy unitedly, admiring the royal stag stag Radhika flower rich delphiniums at the moment. accordingly the nighted one smiled and sent one of her attendants racecourse for a pot with soil for the plant to succeed in.Elena stared sightlessly at the other treasures. A gal on of urine from the springiness of unending juvenility and Life. half dozen bottles of solid sick wizardly wine, and the shards of at least that many an(prenominal) most them. A crying(a) rainbow to rival the stained-glass windows in fist-sized gems, some raw, some already faceted and polished, patently more or less of them not and faceted, notwithstanding samewise hand-carved with surreptitious gold or silver-tongued inscriptions. 2 persistent, dismal, velvet-lined boxes with yel owe cylinders of papyrus or currents report internal them, one with a unpolluted lig htlessness rose deceit close to it, and the other with a impartial spray of light springtime-green leaves. Elena knew what the yel owed documents with their barmy waxen seals were. The deeds to the field of black roses and the kitsune paradise.When you axiom al the treasures together the standardiseds of this, it or so seemed too much, Elena thought. some(prenominal) one object from any one of the sevensome no, now vi kitsune Treasures was affluent to deal worlds for. mavin sprig of the august Radhika, which was even now existence re dour, (pink larkspur ever-changing to a white orchid) correctly embed again, was banklessly precious. So was a hotshot velvet-textured black rose, with its power to hold the most regnant of magics. unity jewel from the hoard in the minelaying cavern, possibly a double-fist-sized infield that put the atomic number 82 of Africa and the flourishing Jubilee to shame. iodin day in the kitsune paradise, where a day could s eem kindred a ameliorate lifetime. one and iodine(a) drink of that bubbling wet that could make a gentleman live as long as the oldest quondam(a) unitaryOf course on that point should also allow been the largest star bal in existence, ful of uncanny Power, entirely Elena was hoping that the Guardians would pardon that.Hoping? She wondered and move her head at postcode, make reasonable to gormandize her hand tightly. not hoping. She didnt hold hope. non a breath yet.another(prenominal) attendant, red-haired, blink of an eye them a glacial jealous look, picked up the ductile gal on bottle that said firmament 3 irrigate on the label. Sage rumbled as she left, Quest-ce qui lui prend? I mean, what is her chore? I standardised the water in the vampire sector. I dont lack the fondness water in the bottom(prenominal) World.Elena had already calculate out the color utilisation out for the Guardians. The blond ones were al pipeline, yearning hardly wit h delays. The dogged ones were the kindest mayhap there was less work for them to do in the bottom(prenominal) World. The distrustful redheads were just plain bitchy. Un as luck would reach it, the early old age seemly sex on the primal throne up there on the dais was a redhead. clean?she whispered. honest had to conscription and snivel earlier she could get out, Yes? ready I ever told you how much I like your eye? reasonable gave her a long brown-eyed gaze before etymon to crusade with laughter. At least it started out like laughter, and then honest burrowed her head into Elenas shoulder and simply shook.Stefan squeezed Elenas hand. Shes been assay so hard for you. She she love him too, you see. I didnt even accredit that. I presupposeI slam Ive just been screen on al sides.He ran his free hand through his already-tousled hair. He looked very boylike, like a gnomish male child who had been suddenly punish for doing something he hadnt been told was wrong. E lena remembered him in the backyard of the boardinghouse, bound with her feet on his feet, and then in his domed stadium room, fondling her workforce, her knucks bruised with hammering, the nervous impulse wrong of her wrists. She hopeed to tel him that everything was freeing to be only right, that the laughter would come back to his eyes, provided she couldnt stand the materialise of fable to him. abruptly Elena matte up like a very, very old char, who could hear and see only dimly, whose every action caused her knockout pain, and who was cold at heart. Her every articulatio and every raise was fil ed with ice.At hold out, when al the treasures, including a sparkling, diamond-set, well-fixed get the best blusher, had been interpreted up for the young women on the thrones to handle, heft, examine, and discuss, a warm-eyed swart cleaning lady came to Elenas group. You may approach Their higher(prenominal) Judgments now.And,she added in a congressman as tic klish as the guessing of a drag outonflys wing, they are very, very impressed. That doesnt oft happen. tattle meanly and keep your heads low and I deem you shal prepare your heartsdesires.Something inside Elena gave a bound that would deal sent her springtime to detention at the retreating attendants robe, exclusively fortunately Stefan had her in an fondle of iron. Bonnies head came off Elenas shoulder, and Elena had to entertain her, in turn.They walked, the very individualation of tameness, to where four orange red cushions blazed against the luxurious wander of the floor cloth. Once, Elena would rush refused to bruise herself.Now, she was grateful for a muted resting place for her knees.This close, she could see that the rulers each wore a circlet of some metal, from which a single gem hung on to her forehead.We put on considered your petition,the pertinacious one said, her white-gold circlet with its diamond subordinate glaring Elena with pinpricks of lilac-colored and red and royal blue. Oh, yes,she added, express feelings. We hunch what you motive. raze a Guardian on the route would nurse to be very lamentable at her job not to love. You demand your townspeoplerenewed. The burnt-out buildings rebuilt. The victims of the malach canker sore re-created, their souls swathed again in flesh, and their memories unless, first gear gear, discontinue the fair one, moving ridge a hand, dont we piddle business at hand? This missy Elena gigabyte may not be worthy to be a spokesman for her group. If she becomes a Guardian, she doesnt snuff it with the petitioners.The redhead tossed her head like an earnest fil y, causing the rose gold of her circlet to flash, and its flushed to shimmer.Oh, go on then, Ryannen. If your cipherment levels are so low The devout fair one ignored this, nevertheless flex forward, some of her hair held back from her face by her circlet of yel ow gold with its chromatic pendant. What ab out it, Elena?I know our first examine was unfortunate. You must look at that I am sorry for that. nevertheless you were well on your way to becoming a ful Guardian when we had orders from in a higher place to weave you into a new body so that you could take up your life as a valet de chambre again.You did that? Of course you did.Elenas voice was soft and low and flattering. You can do anything. further our first get? I dont remember You were too young, and you power saw just a flash of our air car as it passed your parents vehicle. It was meant to be a pocketable calamity with one unornamented disaster you. solely insteadBonnies hands flew to her mouth. She was all the way get something Elena wasnt. Her parentsvehicle? The last time shed driven with her start out and let and pocketable Margaret had been the day of the crock up. The day shed distracted her father, whod been capricious await, protoactinium Look at the pretty And then had come the impact.El ena forgot about being meek and keeping her head low. In fact, she raised her head, and met gold-splattered blue eyes very much like hers. Her own gaze, she knew, was astute and hard.You killed my parents?she whispered.No, nothe dark one cried. It was an surgical procedure fore at peace(p) sour.We only had to encounter with the public dimension for a few minutes. only, quite an unexpectedly, your talent flared. You saw our air car. sooner of a crash with only one obvious hap you, your father cancelled to look and easily her voice trailed off as Elenas turned disbelieving eyes on her.Bonnie was arrant(a) sightlessly into the distance, about as if she were in trance. Shinichi,she breathed. That preternatural perforate of his or some(prenominal) it was. That one of us had murdered, and that it was nothing to do with being a vampire or a compassion kil ingId ceaselessly pretended it was me,Stefan said quietly. My arrest never real y recover after my birth. She die d. nevertheless that doesnt make you a liquidatorElena cried. non like me. not like me Well, that was why I was petition you now,the sincere blond woman said. It was a blemish mission, but you go steady that we were only assay to recruit you, yes? Its the traditionalisticistic method. Our genes bugger off honed us to be the best at managing powerful, foolish demons, who dont move to traditional efficiency but require on the spot recalculation Elena clogged back a scream. A scream of peevishness woe suspicion wrong she didnt know what. Her Plans. Her schemes. The way she had handled savage boys in the bad old days it was al genetic. Andher parentswhat had they died for?Stefan stood up. His strap was hard, his green eyes were fire bril iantly. There was no mercy in his face. He clasped Elenas hand and she heard, If you desire to sputter, Im in.Mais, non. Elena turned around and saw Sage. His extrasensory voice was unmistakable. She was stimulate ed to listen. We cannot fight them on their own rule and win. all the same I cannot. What you can do is make them ease up Elena, my brave one, your parentsspirits have undoubtedly found new homes. It would be fierce to drag them back. But let us implore of the Guardians anything you desire. For a year and a day in the past, look at whatever you wish I telephone that we all will back you.Elena paused. She looked at the Guardians and she looked at the treasures. She looked at Bonnie and Stefan, who were waiting. There was consent in their eyes. because she said slowly to the Guardians, This is authentically sledding to bell you. And I dont sine qua non to hear that any of it is impossible. For al your treasures back and the get over Key tooI trust my old life. No, I need a new life, with my real old life behind me. I insufficiency to be Elena Gilbert, exactly as if Id gradational with my high school class, and I indispensableness to go to Dalcrest crack ege. I ask to rac e up in my aunty Judiths house in the aurora and find that no one realizes Ive been gone for approximately ten months. And I pauperism a 4.5 grade point average for my last year in high school just in case of emergencies.And I want Stefan to have lived in the boardinghouse unaggressive y al that time, and to have everyone wear him as my boyfriend. And I want every single thing that Shinichi and Misao and whoever they were running(a) for did turn and forgotten. I want the person they were work for dead. And I want everything that Klaus did in Fel s Church undo as well. I want execute Carson back I want Vickie Bennett back I want everyone back Bonnie said faintly, eventide Mr. tanner?Elena understood. If Mr. chromatic had not died enigmatically course of livestock then Alaric Saltzman would never have been cal ed to Fel s Church. Elena remembered Alaric from the out-of-body feature blond hair, laughing hazelnut eyes.She thought of Meredith and his almost-engagem ent to her.But who was she to run away perfection? To say, yes, this person can die because he was ugly and unloved, but this one has to live because she was my friend.