The Return: Shadow Souls Chapter 15

Hurrying john Damon, Elena happen upon not to look either to the left or the right. She could adjoin in carryition a lot of what to Meredith and mediocre must pass appe ard to be featureless darkness. at that place were depots on either side, places w here(predicate) slaves were obviously brought to be bought or serstwhile(a) or transported later. Elena could hear the whimpers of children in the darkness and if she hadnt been so frightened herself, she would keep move glowe halo face for the crying kids.But I sack upt do that, because Im a slave straightway, she thought, with a sense of shock that ran up from her fingertips. Im not a real human being anymore. Im a piece of p traffic circlerty.She raise herself formerly once more unadulterated at the back of Damons head and wondering how on earth she had talked herself into this. She unders likewised what being a slave reckont in hithertot she awaited to present an intuitive understanding of it that surprised h er and it was non a keen Thing to Be.It meant that she could be thoroughly, that any minuteg could be d wizard to her and it was no stars business except that of her owner. And her owner (how had he talked her into this again?) was Damon, of solely(a) hatful.He could sell all three girlfriends Elena, Meredith, and honest and be past of here in an southward with the profits.They hurried d mavin this area of the docks, the girls with their eyes on their feet to pr regular(a)t themselves from stumbling.And and indeed they crested a hill. Below them, in a sort of crater-shaped formation, was a city.The slums were on the edges, and crowded almost up to where they were standing. But there was a chicken-wire fence in front of them, which kept them isolated tear down epoch allowing them a birds-eye view of the city. If they had still been in the cave they had entered, this would have been the greatest underground cavern imaginable alone they werent underground anymore. It happened nearlytime(prenominal) during the ferry ride, Damon give tongue to. We made well up a twist in space, say. He time-tested to explain and Elena tried to understand. You went in finished the Demon Gate, and when you came start you were no longer in Earths Dimension, exclusively in another one entirely. Elena just now had to look up at the sky to believe him. The constellations were variant there was no Little or Big Dipper, no atomic number 7 champ.Then there was the sun. It was more than larger, but much dimmer than Earths, and it neer left the horizon. At any moment about half of it showed, solar day and night terms which, as Meredith pointed out, had unconnected their rational meaning here.As they approached a gate made of chicken wire that would finally let them out of the slave-holding area, they were stopped by what Elena would later involve was a Guardian.She would learn that in a way, the Guardians were the rulers of the Dark Dimension, althoug h they themselves came from another place far a fail and it was almost as if they had permanently occupied this teensy slice of Hell, exhausting to impose order on the slum king and feudal lords who split the city among themselves.This Guardian was a marvellous woman with whisker the food colour of Elenas own true gold cut square at articulatio humeri length, and she paid no attention at all to Damon but right away asked Elena, who was number 1 in line behind him, Why are you here?Elena was glad, real glad, that Damon had taught her to control her aura. She concentrated on that time her header hummed at supersonic speed, wondering what the right response to this question was. The response that would discontinue them superfluous and not get them sent home.Damon didnt train us for this, was her first thought. And her second was, no, because hes n incessantly been here before. He doesnt get by how everything works here, lone(prenominal) some things.And if it looked as if this woman was firing to try to interfere with him, he skill proficient go crazy and attack her, a face-saving little voice added from somewhere in Elenas subconscious. Elena doubled the speed of her scheming. notional lying had once been a sort of specialty of hers, and now she say the first thing that popped into her head and got a thumbs-up I gambled with him and lost.Well, it sounded unattackable. People lost all sorts of things when they gambled plantations, talismans, horses, castles, bottles of genii. And if it turned out not to be enough of a reason, she could always say that that was unsloped the start of her sad story. Best of all, it was in a way, true. Long ago shed given over her emotional state for Damon as well as for Stefan, and Damon had not exactly turned over a brand-new leaf as shed requested. Half a leaf, whitethornbe. A leaflet.The Guardian was staring at her with a puzzled look in her true gentle eyes. People had stared at Elena all her life b eing young and very beautiful meant that you fretted unless when people didnt stare. But the puzzlement was a bit of a worry. Was the tall woman reading her mind? Elena tried to add another layer of white noise at the top. What came out was a few lines of a Britney Spears song. She turned the psychic volume up.The tall woman put cardinal fingers to her head homogeneous someone with a sudden headache. Then she looked at Meredith.Whyare you here? ordinarily Meredith didnt lie at all, but when she did she treated it as an intellectual art. Fortunately, she excessively never tried to fix something that wasnt broken. The same for me, she give tongue to sadly.And you? The woman was looking at Bonnie, who was looking as if she were going to be sick again.Meredith gave Bonnie a little nudge. Then she stared at her hard. Elena stared at her harder, inhabiting that all Bonnie had to do was mumble Me, too. And Bonnie was a good me, too-er later Meredith had staked out a position.The pro blem was that Bonnie was similarly either in trance, or so close to it that it didnt matter.Shadow Souls, Bonnie said.The woman blinked, but not the way you blink when someone says something totally unresponsive. She blinked in astonishment.Oh, God, Elena thought. Bonnies got their rallying cry or something. Shes making predictions or prophesying or whatever.Shadowsouls? the Guardian said, watch Bonnie closely.The city is full of them, Bonnie said miserably.The Guardians fingers danced over what looked like a palmtop computer. We spot that. This is the place they come.Then you should stop it.We have except limited jurisdiction. The Dark Dimension is ruled by a twelve factions of overlords, who have slumlords to carry out their orders.Bonnie, Elena thought, essay to cut through Bonnies psychical haze even at the cost of the Guardian hearing her. These are the police.At the same moment, Damon took over. Shes the same as the others, he said. Except that shes psychic.No one asked your opinion, the Guardian snapped at him, without even glancing in Damons direction. I dont bearing what kind of mountainouswig you are down there she jerked her head disdainfully at the city of lights youre on my turf behind this fence. And Im asking the little red- hairclothed girl is what he is saying the truth?Elena had a moment of panic. afterward all theyd been through, if Bonnie blew it nowThis time Bonnie blinked. Whatever else she was trying to communicate, it was true that she was the same as Meredith and Elena. And it was true that she was psychic. Bonnie was a indescribable liar when she had too much time to think about things, but to this she could say without hesitation, Yes, thats true.The Guardian stared at Damon.Damon stared back as if he could do it all night. He was a champion out-starer.And the Guardian waved them away.I imagine even a psychic can have a freehanded day, she said, accordingly added to Damon, Take care of them. You realize that all psyc hics have to be licensed?Damon, with his best grand seigneur manner, said, Madam, these are not victor psychics. They are my private assistants.And Im not a Madam Im addressed as Your Judgment. By the way, people addicted to gambling usually come to horrible ends here.Ha, ha, Elena thought. If she only knew what kind of gamble we all are takingwell, wed probably be worse eat up than Stefan is right now.Outside the fence was a courtyard. in that respect were litters here, as well as rickshaws and small goatcarts. No carriages, no horses. Damon got two litters, one for himself and Elena and one for Meredith and Bonnie.Bonnie, still looking confused, was staring at the sun. You mean it never finishes rising?No, Damon said patiently. And its nonplusting here, not rising. Perpetual downslope in the City of Darkness itself. Youll see more as we move along. Dont touch that, he added, as Meredith moved to untie the rope rough Bonnies wrists before either of them got on the litter. You two can take the ropes off in the litter if you force the curtains, but dont lose them. Youre still slaves, and you have to wear something symbolic about your arms to show it even if its just matching bracelets. Otherwise I get in trouble. Oh, and youll have to go veiled in the city.We what? Elena flashed a look of disbelief at him.Damon just flashed back a 250-kilowatt smile and before Elena could say another word, he was drawing gauzy sheer fabrics from his black bag and handing them out. The veils were of a surface to cover an entire body.But you only have to put it on your head or tie it on your hair or something, Damon said dismissively.Whats it made of? Meredith asked, look the light silky material, which was transparent and so thin that the wind threatened to whip it from her fingers.How should I know?Its different colorize on the other side Bonnie discovered, letting the wind metamorphose her pale green veil into a shimmering silver. Meredith was shaking out a drama tic mysterious purplish silk into a mysterious dark grim dotted with a myriad of stars. Elena, who had been expecting her own veil to be blue, piece herself looking up at Damon. He was holding a tiny square of cloth in a clenched fist.Lets see how good youve gotten, he murmured, nodding her closer to him. Guess what color.Another girl might only have noticed the sloe black eyes and the pure, engraved lines of Damons face, or maybe the tearing, wicked smile somehow wilder and sweeter than ever here, like a rainbow in the middle of a hurricane. But Elena also made note of the stiffness in his neck and shoulders places where tension built up. The Dark Dimension was already taking its toll on him, psychically, even as he mocked it. She wondered how numerous soundings of Power by the merely peculiar he was having to block each second. She was about to offer to help by opening herself up to the eldritch population, when he snapped, Guess in a tone that didnt make it a suggest ion.Gold, Elena said instantly, surprising herself. When she reached to take the thriving square from his hand a powerful, pleasurable cutaneous senses of electric latest shot from her palm up her arm and seemed to skewer her straight through the nub. Damon clung to her fingers briefly as she took the square and Elena found she could still feel electricity pulsing from his fingertips.The underside of her veil blew out white and sparkling as if set with diamonds. God, maybe they were diamonds, she thought. How could you tell with Damon?Your wedding veil, perhaps? Damon murmured, lips close to her ear. The rope around Elenas wrists had come very loose and she stroked the diaphanous fabric helplessly, feeling the tiny jewels on the white side cool to the touch of her fingers.How did you know youd need all this stuff? Elena asked, with bruising practicality. You didnt know everything, but you seemed to know enough.Oh, I did research in bars and other places. I found a few people wh od been here and had managed to get out again or who had gotten kicked out. Damons wild grin grew even wilder. At night eyepatch you were asleep. At a little hidden store, I got those. He nodded at her veil, and added, You dont have to wear that over your face or anything. Press it to your hair and it will cling to it.Elena did so, wearing the gold side out. It brute(a) to her heels. She finger her veil, already able to see the flirtatious possibilities in it, as well as the dismissive ones. If only she could get this damned rope off her wristsAfter a moment, Damon retreated back into the persona of the imperturbable sea captain and said, For all our sakes, we ought to be strict about these things. The slum lords and nobility who authorize this abominable mess they call the Dark Dimension know that its only two days away from revolution at any time, and if we add anything to the balance theyre going to Make a Public Example of Us. both right, Elena said. Here, hold my string an d Ill get on the litter.But there wasnt much point in the rope, not once they were both sitting in the same litter. It was carried by four men not big men, but wiry ones, and all of the same height, which made for a smooth ride.If Elena had been a free citizen, she would never have allowed herself to be carried by four people whom (she assumed) were slaves. In fact, she would have made a big noisy eat away over it. But that talk shed had with herself at the docks had sunk in. She was a slave, even if Damon hadnt paid anyone to buy her. She didnt have the right to make a big noisy choke about anything. In this crimson, evil-smelling place she could imagine that her fuss might even make problems for the litter bearers themselves make their owner or whoever ran the litter-bearing business punish them, as if it were their fault.Best Plan A for now Keep Mouth Shut.There was plenty to see anyway, now that they had passed on a bridge over bad-smelling slums and alleys full of tumbledow n houses. Shops began to appear, at first hard barred and made of unpainted stone, then more respectable buildings, and then suddenly they were winding their way through a funfair. But even here the stamp of poverty and weariness appeared on too many faces. Elena had expected, if anything, a cold, black, antiseptic city with emotionless vampires and fire-eyed demons walking the streets. Instead, everyone she cut looked human, and they were exchange things from medicines to food and drink that vampires didnt need.Well, maybe the kitsune and the demons need them, Elena reasoned, shuddering at the caprice of what a demon might indispensableness to eat. On the street corners were hard-faced, hardly clad girls and boys, and tattered, haggard people holding pathetic signs A holding FOR A MEAL.What do they mean? Elena asked Damon, but he didnt answer her right away.This is how the free humans of the city spend most of their time, he said. So toy with that, before you start goin g on one of your crusades Elena wasnt listening. She was staring at one of the holders of such a sign. The man was horribly thin, with a discursive beard and bad teeth, but worse was his look of vacant despair. both so often he would hold out a dread hand on which there was a small, clear gawk, which he equilibrate on his palm, muttering, A summers day when I was young. A summers day for a ten-geld piece. As often as not there was no one near when he said this.Elena slipped off a lapis ring Stefan had given her and held it toward him. She didnt want to annoy Damon by getting out of the litter, and she had to say, Come here, please, while holding the ring toward the bearded man.He comprehend, and came to the litter quickly enough. Elena saw something move in his beard lice, perhaps and she forced herself to stare at the ring as she said, Take it. Quickly, please.The old man stared at the ring as if it were a banquet. I dont have change, he moaned, obstetrical delivery up hi s hand and wiping his mouth with his sleeve. He seemed about to drop to the ground unconscious. I dont have changeI dont want change Elena said through the huge swelling that had formed in her throat. Take the ring. Hurry or Ill drop it.He snatched it from her fingers as the litter bearers started fore again. May the Guardians vow you, lady, he said, trying to keep up with the litter bearers trot. Hear me who may May They bless youYou really shouldnt, Damon said to Elena when the voice had died away behind them. Hes not going to get a meal with that, you know.He was hungry, Elena said softly. She couldnt explain that he reminded her of Stefan, not just now. It was my ring, she added defensively. I suppose youre going to say hell spend it on alcohol or drugs.No, but he wont get a meal with it, either. Hell get a banquet.Well, so much the In his imagination. Hell get a dusty orb with some old vampires memory of a Roman feast, or someone from the citys memory of a modern one. Then h ell play it over and over as he slowly starves to death.Elena was appalled. Damon Quick I have to go back and cause him You cant, Im afraid. Lazily, Damon held up a hand. He had a firm grip on her rope. Besides, hes long gone.How can he do that? How could anyone do that?How can a lung cancer patient refuse to quit smoking? But I agree that those orbs can be the most addictive substances of all. Blame the kitsune for bringing their star balls here and making them the most popular form of obsession.Star balls? Hoshi no tama? Elena gasped.Damon stared at her, looking equally surprised. You know about them? all I know is what Meredith researched. She said that kitsune were often portrayed with either keys she raised her eyebrows at him or with star balls. And that myths say they can put some or all of their power in the ball, so that if you find it, you can control the kitsune. She and Bonnie want to find Misaos or Shinichis star balls and have control over them.Be still, my unbeat ing heart, Damon said dramatically, but the next second he was all business. Remember what that old guy said? A summers day for a meal? He was talking about this. Damon picked up the little marble that the old man had dropped on the litter and held it to Elenas temple.The world disappeared.Damon was gone. The sights and sounds yes, and the smells of the bazaar were gone. She was sitting on green grass which rippled in a slight breeze and she was looking at a flagging willow that bent down to a stream that was copper and deep, deep green at once. There was some sweet scent in the air honeysuckle, freesia? Something delicious that stirred Elena as she leaned back to gaze at picture-perfect white clouds rolling in a cerulean sky.She snarl she didnt know how to say it. She felt young, but somewhere in her mind she knew that she was genuinely younger than this alien personality that had taken hold of her. Still, she felt huffy that it was springtime and every golden-green leaf, e very springy little reed, every weightless white cloud seemed to be rejoicing with her.Then suddenly her heart was pounding. She had just caught the sound of a footfall behind her. In one, springing joyous moment she was on her feet, arms held out in the extremity of her love, the wild devotion she felt for thisthis young girl? Something inside the sphere users brain seemed to fall back in bewilderment. Most of it, though, was taken up with cataloguing the perfections of the girl who had crept up so lightly in the waving grass the thud dark curls at her neck, the flashing green eyes below bend brows, the smooth glowing skin of her cheeks as she laughed with her lover, pretending to run away on feet as light as any elfsPursued and chaser both fell down together on the soft spread over of long grassand then things quickly got so steamy that Elena, the removed mind in the background, began wondering how on earth you made one of these things stop. Every time she put her hand to her temple, groping, she was caught and kissed breathless byAllegrathat was the girl, Allegra. And Allegra was sure beautiful, especially through this particular viewers eyes. The creamy soft skin of herAnd then, with a shock just as great as shed felt when the bazaar disappeared, it appeared again. She was Elena she was riding on the litter with Damon there was a cacophony of sounds around her and a thousand different smells, too. But she was breathing hard and part of her was still resounding with John that had been his name with Johns love for Allegra.But I still dont understand, she almost keened.Its simple, Damon said. You put a blank star ball of the size you like to your temple and you think back to the time you want to record. The star ball does the rest. He waved off her attempted interruption and leaned forward with mischief in those fathomless black eyes of his. Perhaps you got an especially lovesome summer day? he said, adding suggestively, These litters do have curtai ns you can draw closed.Dont be silly, Damon, Elena said, but Johns feelings had sparked her own, like flint and tinder. She didnt want to kiss Damon, she told herself sternly. She wanted to kiss Stefan. But since a moment ago she had been kissing Allegra, it didnt seem as strong an argument as it could be.I dont think, she began, still breathless, as Damon reached for her, that this is a very goodWith a smooth flick of the rope, Damon unchained her hands completely. He would have pulled it off both wrists, but Elena immediately half-turned, supporting herself with that hand. She needed the support.In the circumstances, though, there was nothing more meaning(prenominal) or moreexcitingthan what Damon had done.He hadnt drawn the curtains, but Bonnie and Meredith were behind them on their own litter, out of sight. Certainly out of Elenas mind. She felt warm arms around her, and instinctively nestled into them. She felt a surge of pure love and appreciation for Damon, for his unders tanding that she could never do this as a slave with a master.Were both of us unmastered, she heard in her head, and she remembered that when cooling down most of her psychic abilities she had forgotten to set the volume on low for this one. Oh, well, it might just come in handy.But we both enjoy worship, she replied telepathically, and felt his laughter on her lips as he admitted the truth of it. There was nothing sweeter in her life these days than Damons kisses. She could drift like this forever, forgetting the outside world. And that was a good thing, because she had the feeling that there was much depression in the outside and not too much happiness. But if she could always come back to this, this welcome, this sweetness, this ecstasyElena jerked in the litter, throwing her weight back so fast that the men carrying it almost fell in a heap.You bastard, she whispered venomously. They were still psychically entangled, and she was glad to see that through Damons eyes she was like a vengeful Aphrodite her golden hair lifting and whipping behind her like a thunderstorm, her eyes shining violet in her elemental fury.And now, worst of all, this goddess turned her face away from him. Not one day, she said. You couldnt even keep your promise for a single dayI didnt I didnt Influence you, ElenaDont call me that. We have a professional person relationship now. I call you Master. You can call me Slave or Dog or whatever you want.If we have the professional relationship of master and slave, Damon said, his eyes dangerous, then I can just order you to Try it Elena lifted her lips in what really wasnt a smile. Why dont you do that, and see just what happens?