The Dark Reunion by L. J. Smith Page B

or kids in Afghanistan starve, or baby seals get skinned alive? If that’s what the world is like, what does anything matter? It’s all over anyway.” He paused and seemed to come back to himself. “Do you understand what I’m talking about?”
    “I’m not so sure.” Bonnie didn’t even think she wanted to. It was too scary. But she was overwhelmed by an urge to comfort him, to wipe that lost look from his eyes. “Matt, I—”
    “We’re finished,” Stefan said from behind them.
    As Matt looked toward the voice the lostlook seemed to intensify. “Sometimes I think we’re
all
finished,” Matt said, moving away from Bonnie, but he didn’t explain what he meant by that. “Let’s go.”

7
    Stefan approached the corner house reluctantly, almost afraid of what he might find. He half expected that Damon would have abandoned his post by now. He’d probably been an idiot to rely on Damon in the first place.
    But when he reached the backyard, there was a shimmer of motion among the black walnut trees. His eyes, sharper than a human’s because they were adapted for hunting, made out the darker shadow leaning against a trunk.
    “You took your time getting back.”
    “I had to see the others home safe. And I had to eat.”
    “Animal blood,” Damon said contemptuously, eyes fixed on a tiny round stain on Stefan’s T-shirt. “Rabbit, from the smell of it. That seems appropriate somehow, doesn’t it?”
    “Damon—I’ve given Bonnie and Meredith vervain too.”
    “A wise precaution,” Damon said distinctly, and showed his teeth.
    A familiar surge of irritation welled up in Stefan. Why did Damon always have to be so difficult? Talking with him was like walking between land mines.
    “I’ll be going now,” Damon continued, swinging his jacket over one shoulder. “I’ve got business of my own to take care of.” He tossed a devastating grin over his shoulder. “Don’t wait up.”
    “Damon.” Damon half turned, not looking but listening. “The last thing we need is some girl in this town screaming ‘Vampire!’” Stefan said. “Or showing the signs, either. These people have been through it before; they’re not ignorant.”
    “I’ll bear that in mind.” It was said ironically, but it was the closest thing to a promise Stefan had ever gotten from his brother in his life.
    “And, Damon?”
    “Now what?”
    “Thank you.”
    It was too much. Damon whipped around, his eyes cold and uninviting, a stranger’s eyes.
    “Don’t expect anything of me, little brother,” he said dangerously. “Because you’ll be wrong every time. And don’t think you can manipulate me, either. Those three humans may follow you, but I won’t. I’m here for reasons of my own.”
    He was gone before Stefan could gather words for a reply. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway. Damon never listened to anything he said. Damon never even called him by name. It was always the scornful “little brother.”
    And now Damon was off to prove how unreliable he was, Stefan thought. Wonderful. He’d do something particularly vicious just to show Stefan he was capable of it.
    Wearily, Stefan found a tree to lean against and slid down it to look at the night sky. He tried to think about the problem at hand, about what he’d learned tonight. The description Vickie had given of the killer. Tall, blond hair and blue eyes, he thought—that seemed to remind him of someone. Not someone he’d met, but someone he’d heard about …
    It was no use. He couldn’t keep his mind on the puzzle. He was tired and lonely and in desperate need of comfort. And the stark truth wasthat there was no comfort to be had.
    Elena, he thought, you lied to me.
    It was the one thing she’d insisted on, the one thing she’d always promised. “Whatever happens, Stefan, I’ll be with you. Tell me you believe that.” And he had answered, helpless in her spell, “Oh, Elena, I believe it. Whatever happens, we’ll be together.”
    But she had left him. Not by