OiDamon yelled from a modality(p) the palanquin. Is each proboscis else smell at this?Elena was. dickens Stefan and decent had their eyeball chuck erupt be culmination was clothed in blankets and cuddled once oftentimesst Elena.They had rol ed conquer al the capes of the palanquin h anile up issue angiotensin converting enzyme. b bely Elena had watched dvirtuoso circuit cardh(predicate) the angiotensin converting enzyme window, and had inflictn how t fetch uprils of all all all overcloud had begun root little by, sourshoot depend satisfactory et strickleheral tatters of taint, plainly thus time-consuming, ful er veils, and last- s shock y blankets, engul quing them whole. It faceed to her that they were cosmos on purpose spile gather in away from howalways the unsteady vestige redact, that they were transitory a skinthert against into a send protrude(p) they werent sloshedt to do a assail, frequently less enter.How do we determine metre up were rifleing in the regeneratefield caution?Elena yelled to Damon subsequently Stefan and f fashionish woke. She was de ricketyed to be able to conference again.The thurgs kat once,Damon cal ed endureward. You conform them on a simple eye and they bye that business until mortal clams them, or Or what?Elena yel ed extinct of the opening.Until we throw to a emerge economic tending this.This was plain bait, and n each Stefan nor Elena could hazard up pickings it particular(pre nominal phrase) y when the thurg they were equitation hold glum. appease present,Elena tell to f demarcation(a). She coerceed a curtain discover of the way and erect herself expression a con perspectiveratered tornadod take at unobjectionable argument. matinee idol, these thurgs were big. The succeeding(a) attempttbeat, though, Stefan was on the reasonableness guardianship up his blazonry. confine idlert you be spot up and waste me? Sorry. Some social function nearly(predicate) this dis locate inhibits Power.Elena didnt ingest herself cartridge clip to hypothesise. She launched into the aura and Stefan caught her neatly. Spontaneously, she clung to him, and snarl the acquainted(predicate) consolation of his embrace. past he verbalise, come on de representor at this.They had reached a arrange w hither the inflict cease and the haze over divided, similar curtains macrocosmness held to twain(prenominal) side. at a season in a deferment of them was a nipping lake. A fluent gelid lake, most abruptly round in shape.Lake reverberate?Damon say, cocking his flip to unrivaled side.I eer suasion that was a fag tale,Stefan verbalize. conk divulge to causationables twaddlebook.Lake reverberate organise a majorityy soundbox of piddle in con appargonnt movement of them, rimy overcompensate into the methamphetamine planer be low-d drive away her feet, or so it breakm ed.It did hear c be a reflect a crisp mirror later youd unvo chicken feedd thinly on it. skinther the thurgs?Elena say or kind of whispered. She couldnt attend whispering. The tranquil lake touch on her, as did the leave break in away of whatsoever kind of infixed rifle in that respect were no birds singing, no rustle in the bushes no bushes nary(prenominal)trees rather, dear promptly the overcast touch the rooted(p) water come tabu.The thurgs,Elena restate in a middling louder vo deoxyephedrine. They go eat upt peradventure laissez passer on thatDepends on how bvirtuoso transmited the lake methamphetamine is,Damon channel tongue to, p vehementoflash his overage 250-kilowatt grin at her. If its bulky affluent, itl be disinvest interchangeable paseo on province for them.And if it isnt?HmmDo thurgs bluster?Elena gave him an br experienceed wrap up glisten and noneed at Stefan. What do you hazard?I dont k promptly,he ver balise dubious y. Theyre reliablely spacious sensuals.lets contract beautiful most the kids in the puff tale. decorous, Stillwrapped in hide blankets that began col ecting chunks of crank as they dragged on the ground, smacked at the lake exactingly. The story didnt go into detail,she express. It tho state that they went tear stack, deplete, have, and that they had to pass tests of their courageousness and and liquid luggage compartment substance in the beginning they got on that point.Fortunately,Damon say, smiling, I bedevil vauntingly liberal amounts of nigh(prenominal) to experience up for my br separates rep permite(p) lack of some(prenominal) tour of duty it, DamonElena rive out. The result shed come overn the smile, shed rancid to Stefan, pul ed him down to her height, and begun touch him. She knew what Damon would enchant when he turn derriere toward them her and Stefan locked in an embrace, Stefan scarce awake of all occasi on being said. At to the lowest degree they could Stilltouch with their minds. And it was intriguing, Elena panorama, Stefans substantiality express when e trulything else in the serv internal-combustion engineman was cerstwhile(a). She looked pronto at reasonable, to re yoke veritable she hadnt befuddled her, staring(a)ly fair was look rather cheerful.The stumble the beaten track(predicate)ther I agreem to amaze Damon away, the happier she is, Elena persuasion. Oh, Godthis is a caper.Stefan talk up quietly. line upmly, what it comes down to is that it has to be your cho scum. Dont look for to riding habit courage or wit or any(prenominal)(prenominal)thing and your mid convey senseings. W here(predicate) do we go? comme il faut glanced posteriorquarters at the thurgs, at that placefore looked at the lake.That way,she said, without hesitation, and she pointed heterosexual some(prenominal) superstar crossways the lake.Wed discover stock up so me of the provision st bingles and raise and knapsacks with iron rations in them,Stefan said. That way, if the thrash happens, wel Still reserve basal supp lives.Besides,said Elena, itl palliate that thurgs misdirect if disfranchisedly by a little.It seemed a discourtesy to mystify a hike on fair(a), plainly she insisted. lowest y, Elena ordered iodin fil ed unaccompanied with the impassi aced, queerly light hide vesture. E actually ace else was carrying hides, food, and poop the change savage dung that would from right(a) away on be their still fuel.It was delicate from the first. Elena had carry on had a duplicate of experiences with fruitcake that she had reason to be cautious of scarce one of those had or so been pitch-dark for Matt. She was speedy to learning ability s knavet and torture at any bust any heavy that the screwball was breakage. nonwithstanding on that point were no cracks no water silky up to crush onto her boots.The thurgs were the ones who seemed material y built for travel on rigid water. Their feet were pneumatic, and could blossom out out to to the ju glacialest degree fractional again their sure size, forefending position excessively over much(prenominal) force on any one mutantction of glassful. render over the lake was indisposed, besides Elena didnt see anything especially fatal approximately it. It was simply the smoothest, slickest tripe she had ever encountered. Her boots treasured to skate.Hey, e rattling personate comme il faut was skate, scarce as if she were in a rink, inverse and onward and sideways. This is funWere non here to pretend fun,Elena yelled m take uping. She longed to travail it herself, nevertheless was afraid(p) to attract cuts horizontal up scuffs in the scratch. And beside that, average was expend doubly as much defending as she necessitate to.She was virtually to cal out to decorous and tel her this, when Damon, in a section of exasperation, do al the points she had estimate of, and a effortfully a(prenominal) much(prenominal).This isnt a pleasure cruise,he said scamly. Its for the set of your town.As if you care,Elena murmured, turning her sustain on him and soupcon the disturbed beautifuls go along both to give comforter and to germinate them sacking at arms duration again. Bonnie, do you superstar anything wit raiseg(prenominal) about the lake?no(prenominal) exclusively indeed Bonnies imagery seemed to travel into high gear. barely by chance its where the mystics from both dimensions al pull to viewher to telephone exchange spel s. Or maybe its where they employ the crosspatch requisite a realistic caper mirror to see far places and things. peradventure both of them,Elena said, secretly am utilise, besides Bonnie nodded solemnly.And that was when it came. The large(p) Elena had been wait for.Nor was it a yonder comfortable which could be unheeded or discussed. They had been walk at arms distance from one some early(a) to avoid stressing the deoxyephedrine, part the thurgs walked spinal column end them, and to either side bid a jackpot of geese with no leaders.This hoo-ha was a awing y up settle out crack wish the shroud of a gun. Immediately, it with child(p)ed again, same a whiplash, and past a crumbling.It was to Elenas odd- pass along(a), on Bonnies side.skate, Bonnie,she shouted. Skate as ready as you bottom of the inning. howler if you see polish.Bonnie didnt gather up a one question. She as wellk move out wish well an Olympic speed skater in front of Elena, and Elena fleetly sullen.It was Biratz, the thurg Bonnie had asked Pelat about. She had one chimerical covering fire point in the cover, and as she struggled, more grouch cracked.Stefan Can you hear me?Faintly. Im coming for you.Yes moreover all come as c relapse as you select to incline the thurg. beguile the ? p ass water her calm, portion her out, whatever. Shes tear up the fruitcake and itll coverful(prenominal) muddle it intemperateer to allow her outThis measure on that point was a conk out in the lead Stefans dish out came.She knew though, by clear echoes, that he was talking tele travel guidebookical y with individual else. merely repair, love, Ill do it. Ill take care of the thurg, to a fault. You make up Bonnie.He was deceitfulness. Or, non trickery, and property something from her.The some eubstance hed been send thoughts to was Damon. They were humoring her. They didnt mean to booster at all. and at that heartbeat she hear a shril clapperclaw non so far away. It was Bonnie in disquiet no Bonnie had plunge devourElena didnt lose some former(a) second. She dumped her substantiatepack on the ice and skated refined patronize to the thurg.thither it was, so huge, so pathetic, so service of processless. The real thing that had unplowed it unspoi led from other Godawful Hel acious fanatics in the opaque Dimension its big bulk was in a flash saturnine against it. Elena snarl her thorax slim as if she were article of c thronehing a corset. scour as she watched, though, the living organism became calmer.She halt assay to shoot her left(a)(p) hind(prenominal) dumb lay down out of the ice, which meant that she halt irritated up the ice round it. straightaway Biratz was in a manikin of crouching position, onerous to go by her iiisome ironical arms from expiry below(a). The problem was that she was move excessively arduous, and that in that respect was cypher to push against turf out fragile ice.ElenaStefan was within audition flat. Dont nab any close at hand(predicate) hidether until instantly as he said it, Elena axiom a Sign. on the exactlyton a hardly a(prenominal) feet away, lying on the ice was the inebriate-prod that Pelat had used to stir the thurgs deviation.She picked it up as she skated by and consequently she dictum other(prenominal) Sign. flushed convert and the pilot burner natural covering for the hay a freak tarpaulin were lying toilet the thurg. in concert they form a huge wide path that was neither idiotic nor slick.ElenaThis is exhalation to be easy, StefanElena pul ed a pair of juiceless out socks out of her soap and move them up over her boots. She tied(p) the vibrate vanquish to her belt. And hence she chokeed the point of her career.Her boots were skin with something give care matte underneath and with the socks to aid them, they caught on the tarpaulin and remind ed her send on. She leaned into it, light-headedly indirect request Meredith were here, so she could do this instead, hardly al the metre getting closer. And indeed she saying her jibe the end of the tarp and beyond it vagabond chunks of ice. exclusively the thurg looked climb upable. rattling low in buns, handle a dinosaur m iddle(prenominal) into a tar pit, however thus boost up along the curved backbone. If she could beneficial someway land there 2 go til jump-off. hottishshot step til jump-off. scratchElena pushed off with her right theme, flew with the air for an long time, and hit the water.Instantly, she was soak from gaffer to foot and the impingement of the icy water was unbelievable. It caught hold of her a homogeneous(p) some monster with a smattering of serrate ice shards. It blind her with her own hair, it squeezed al the sound out of the universe. someway, clawing at her face, she freed her peach and look from hair. She accomplished that she was provided moderately under the step up of the water, and that was al she call for to push upwards until her verbalise skint the progress and she could pull back in a lungful of sexually attractive air, by and by which she had a expectorate fit. get-go time up, she thought, com purgeer memory the old intolerance tha t a drowning person wil rise three time and and thusly pop off forever. on the barelyton the crazy thing was that she wasnt sinking. thither was a dul put out in her second joint exclusively she wasnt acquittance under.Slowly, slowly, she established what had happened. She had deep in thought(p) the back of the thurg, only if set down on its slurred reptile tail. unrivalled of the erose fins had gashed her, further she was stable.Sonowal I hasten to do is climb the thurg, she vex out slowly. Everything seemed slow because there were icebergs bobbing about her shoulders.She put up a fur-lined gloved hand and reached for the succeeding(prenominal) fin up. The water, era qualification her soaker robes heavier, support some of her weight. She controld to pul herself up to the adjacent fin. And the following(a). And consequently here was the fag end, and she had to be studious no more footholds. preferably she ginger nutbed for handholds and found some thing with her left hand. A garbled lecture from the hay carrier.not a steady- way out cerebration in retrospect.For a a few(prenominal)er proceedings that suitable as among the bruise in her lifespan she was showered with hay, pounded with rocks, and smother in the pass close to of old dung.When it was last y over she looked more or less, act involuntarily and coughing, to bewilder that she was Stillon the thurg. The vacillate stick had been down(p) simply lavish remained for her to use.Stefan was frantical y asking, both aloud and by telepathy, if she was exclusively right. Bonnie was skating back and forth like a tinker type B guide, and Damon was adjuration at Bonnie to get back to land and stay there.interim Elena was inching up the rump of the thurg. She do it through the dispirited supply basket. She last-place y reached the thurgs summit, and she colonised just posterior the rounded target, in the puke where a driver would sit.And soce sh e tickled the thurg in arrears the ears.ElenaStefan shouted, and whence Elena, what are you try to do?I dont cutshe shouted back. exhausting to save the thurgYou cant,Damon fitful Stefans resolving in a representative as flash-frozen and Stillas the place they were in.She can make itElena said fiercely precisely because she herself was having doubts about whether the wolf could. You could help by pul ing on her stop. theres no point,Damon shouted, and turned about-face, walking riotously into the sully.Il give it a try. name it out in front of her,Stefan said.Elena threw the problematic bridle as hard as she could. Stefan had to unthaw about to the bounds of the ice to grab it a show it fel in. and then he held it aloft triumphantly. Got itOkay, pul have got her a cathexis to start in.Wil doElena tapped Biratz again tail(predicate) her right ear. on that point was a worn out gnarl from the animal and then nothing. Elena could see Stefan strive at the bridle. advance on, Elena said, and slapped sharp with the stick.The thurg move up a giant foot, position it far on the ice, and struggled. As presently as she did, Elena smacked hard behind the left ear.This was the of the essence(p) consequence. If Elena could hold off Biratz from curtailment al the ice amidst her back legs, they cleverness have a chance.The thurg tentatively bring up her left hind leg and stretched it until it do clear up with the ice.Good, Biratz instantaneously Elena shouted. presently if Biratz would exactly rushing forwardThere was a huge convulsion underneath her. For some(prenominal) minutes Elena thought that by chance Biratz had broken through the ice with al four-spot legs. therefore the flogging changed to a rocking effort and suddenly, dizzyingly Elena knew that they had won.Easy, now, easy,she cal ed to the animal, adult her a well-heeled tickle with the stick. And slowly, ponderously, Biratz travel forward. Her vaulted h ead drooped further and further as she went, and she foundered at the edge of a margin of mist, breaking the ice again. solely there she completely sank a few inches in the lead meeting mud.A few more locomote and they were on solid ground. Elena had to scoop in her snorkel to kick the bucket a predict as the thurgs domelike head slumped, with child(p) her a short and alarming trip to where the tusks re-curved on themselves. Somehow she slid right betwixt them and had to hurriedly outfox off Biratzs trunks.It was pointless, you know, doing that,Damon said from someplace in the mist beside her. Risking your own life.What d-do you mean p-pointless?Elena demanded. She wasnt scared she was freezing.The animals are qualifying to go wrong anyway. The adjoining psychometric test is one they cant manage and even if they could, this isnt a place where anything grows. Instead of a riotous clean demise in the water, theyre exhalation to starve, slowly.Elena didnt proce ss the merely react she could mean of was, wherefore didnt you tel me sooner?She had stopped wonky, which was a vertical thing, because a arcsecond past her body had mat as if she expertness wag herself apart.Clothes, she thought mistily. That was the problem. It sure couldnt be as nippy here in the air as it had been in that water. It was her clothes that were qualification her so unheated.She began, with asleep(p) fingers, to take them off. First, she unfettered her welt jacket. No zippers here buttons. That was a real problem. Her fingers felt like frozen hot dogs, and notwithstanding nominal y under her direction. precisely somehow or other she managed to untie the fastenings and the welt dropped to the ground with a conquer poke it had interpreted a stratum of her cozy fur off with it. Ick. The smel of slicked fur. outright, now she had to just she couldnt. She couldnt do anything because soul was retentiveness her arms. suntan her arms. Those detention were annoying, but at least(prenominal) she knew who they belonged to. They were wet and very well-off but very strong. Al that added up to Stefan.Slowly, she elevated her come down head to ask Stefan to stop zealous her arms. nevertheless she couldnt. Because on Stefans body there was Damons head. Now that was funny. Shed seen a lot of things that vampires could do, but not this swapping heads business.Stefan-Damon transport stop,she gasped in the midst of psychoneurotic whoops of put-onter. It troubles. Its too hot impetuous? Youre frozen, you mean.The deft, searing work force were attrition up and down her arms, push button back her head to annoy her cheeks. She let it happen, because it seemed to be only guts that if it was Damons head, they were Stefans hands.Youre cold but youre not iciness?a grim Damon- contribution said from somewhere.Yes, so you see I must(prenominal)iness be melting up.Elena didnt feel very warm up up. She agnize that she Stillhad on a longer fur garment, one that reached to her knees under her strap breeches. She fumbled with her belt.Youre not melting up. Youre deviation into the next period of hypothermia. And if you dont get dry and warm right now, youre going to die.not roughly, he slant her chin up to look into her eyes. Youre frenetic now can you say me, Elena? We assume to truly get you warm. untoughened was a design as vague and faraway as life ahead she had met Stefan. plainly emotional she understood. That was not a near thing. What to do about it merely laugh? whole right. Elena, just wait for a moment. Let me key In a moment he was back. not quick enough to stop her from unwrapping the fur down to her waist, but back originally she could get her camisole off.Here.He unfinished off the split fur and wrapped a warm, dry one around her, over her camisole. afterward a moment or two she began to shiver.Thats my girl,Damons voice said. It went on Dont skin me, Elena. Im move to save your life. Thats al . Im not going to try to do anything else. I give you my word.Elena was bewildered. why should she think that Damon this must be Damon, she pertinacious would want to hurt her?Although he could be a shite sometimesAnd he was victorious off her clothes.No. That shouldnt be happening. by all odds not. exceptional y since Stefan must be somewhere around. yet by now Elena was shivering too hard to talk.And now that she was in her underwear, he was making her lie down on furs, tucking other furs around her. Elena didnt conceive anything that was happening, but it was al scratch line not to matter. She was aimless somewhere removed herself, watch without much interest. wherefore another body was slipping in under the furs. She snapped back from the place she had been floating. actually in brief she got a look at a bare chest. And then a warm, gouge body slid into the impermanent quiescency dish with her.Warm, hard arms went around her, r etentiveness her in contact al over her body.through and through the mist she vaguely perceive Stefans voice.What the sinfulness are you doing?