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Authors: L. J. Smith

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Damon snapped, almost automatically, “Because I wasn’t invited!”

Memory swept over Bonnie. Herself standing outside Vickie’s house, Damon standing beside her. Stefan’s voice:
Vickie, invite me in.
But no one had invited Damon.

“But how did
Klaus
get in, then—?” she began, following her own thoughts.

“That was Tyler’s job, I’m sure,” Damon said tersely. “What Tyler did for Klaus in return for learning how to reclaim his heritage. And he must have invited Klaus in before we ever started guarding the house—probably before Stefan and I came to Fell’s Church. Klaus was well prepared. That night he was in the house and the girl was dead before I knew what was happening.”

“Why didn’t you call for Stefan?” Matt said. There was no accusation in his voice. It was a simple question.

“Because there was nothing he could have done!
I
knew what you were dealing with as soon as I saw it. An Old One. Stefan would only have gotten himself killed and the girl was past caring, anyway.”

Bonnie heard the thread of coldness in his voice, and when Damon turned back to Stefan and Elena, his face had hardened. It was as if some decision had been made.

“You see, I’m not like you,” he said.

“It doesn’t matter.” Stefan had still not withdrawn his hand. Neither had Elena.

“And sometimes the good guys
do
win,” Matt said quietly, encouragingly.

“Damon—” Bonnie began. Slowly, almost reluctantly, he turned toward her. She was thinking about that moment when they had been kneeling over Stefan and he had looked so young. When they had been just Damon and Bonnie at the edge of the world.

She thought, for just one instant, that she saw stars in those black eyes. And she could sense in him something—some ferment of feelings like longing and confusion and fear and anger all mixed. But then it was all smoothed over again
and his shields were back up and Bonnie’s psychic senses told her nothing. And those black eyes were simply opaque.

He turned back to the couple on the ground. Then he removed his jacket and stepped behind Elena. He draped it over her shoulders without touching her.

“It’s a cold night,” he said. His eyes held Stefan’s a moment as he settled the black jacket around her.

And then he turned to walk into the darkness between the oak trees. In an instant Bonnie heard the rush of wings.

Stefan and Elena wordlessly joined hands again, and Elena’s golden head dropped to Stefan’s shoulder. Over her hair Stefan’s green eyes were turned toward the patch of night where his brother had disappeared.

Bonnie shook her head, feeling a catch in her throat. It was eased as something touched her arm and she looked up at Matt. Even soaking wet, even covered with bits of moss and fern, he was a beautiful sight. She smiled at him, feeling her wonder and joy come back. The giddy, dizzy excitement as she thought about what had
happened tonight. Meredith and Caroline were smiling too, and in an impulsive burst Bonnie seized Matt’s hands and whirled him into a dance. In the middle of the clearing they kicked up wet leaves and spun and laughed. They were alive, and they were young, and it was the summer solstice.

“You wanted us all back together again!” Bonnie shouted at Caroline, and pulled the scandalized girl into the dance. Meredith, her dignity forgotten, joined them too.

And for a long time in the clearing there was only rejoicing.

June 21, 7:30 a.m.

The Summer Solstice

Dear Diary
,

Oh, it’s all too much to explain and you wouldn’t believe it anyway. I’m going to bed.

Bonnie

E
verything was frozen. Matt could smell his own fear, but he wouldn’t move. He couldn’t move now.

It didn’t matter. He hadn’t given in. If he died right now, he died knowing that.

Damon’s teeth were a white glitter in the dark. Sharp as carving knives. Matt could almost feel the razor bite of them before they touched him.

I will not surrender anything, he thought, and closed his eyes.

BOOKS BY
L. J. SMITH

The Vampire Diaries:
Vol. I: The Awakening

The Vampire Diaries:
Vol. II: The Struggle

The Vampire Diaries:
Vol. III: The Fury

The Vampire Diaries:
Vol. IV: Dark Reunion

The Vampire Diaries:
The Return Vol. 1: Nightfall

The Vampire Diaries:
The Return Vol. 2: Shadow Souls

The Secret Circle:
The Initiation and The Captive Part I

The Secret Circle:
The Captive Part II and The Power

Copyright

Logo and cover photo © and trademark
The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved.

The Vampire Diaries: Dark Reunion
Copyright © 1991 by Daniel Weiss Associates, Inc. and Lisa Smith

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

EPub Edition © AUGUST 2010 ISBN: 978-0-062-06475-2

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Produced by Alloy Entertainment
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Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2009939632
ISBN 978-0-06-202058-1

Typography by Jennifer Heuer
10 11 12 13 14 OPM 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Revised paperback edition, 2010

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BOOK: The Dark Reunion
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