she’s the only one who didn’t miraculously escape.
And it was then that the first of the Tree-Men loomed up in front of the group of searchers. Like something out of a nursery-tale nightmare, it was a tree and then — suddenly — it was a thing, a treelike giant that suddenly moved swiftly toward them, its upper branches bunching together to become long arms, and then everyone was screaming and trying to get away from it.
Bonnie would never forget how Matt and Meredith had tried to help her run then.
The Tree-Man wasn’t fast. But when they turned and ran from it they found that there was another one behind them. And more to the right and the left. They were surrounded.
And then, like cattle, like slaves, they were herded. Any of them that tried to resist the trees were slapped and cuffed by hard and sharp-thorned branches, and then, with a lithe branch wound around the neck, were dragged.
They’d been caught — but they hadn’t been killed. Instead they were being taken somewhere. It wasn’t hard to imagine why: in fact Bonnie could imagine a whole lot of different whys. It was just a matter of picking which was the scariest.
In the end, after what seemed like hours of forced walking, Bonnie began to recognize things. They were going back to the boardinghouse again. Or rather, they were going back to the real boardinghouse for the first time. Caroline’s car was outside. The house was again lit from top to bottom, but there were dark windows here and there.
And their captors were waiting for them.
And now, after her outburst of weeping and pleading, she was trying to be brave once more.
When that boy with the strange hair had said that she would be the first, she’d understood exactly what he meant, and how she was going to die — and suddenly she wasn’t brave at all — inside. But she wouldn’t scream again.
She could just see the widow’s walk, and the sinister figures on it, but Damon had laughed when the Tree- Men had begun to pluck her clothes off. Now he was laughing as Meredith held the garden shears. She wouldn’t beg him again, not when it wouldn’t make any difference anyway.
And now she was on her back, with her arms and legs tied so she was helpless, clothed in strips and rags. She wanted them to kill her first, so she wouldn’t have to watch Meredith cut her own tongue to pieces.
Just as she felt a last scream of fury welling up inside her like a snake climbing a pole, she had seen Elena high above her in a white pine tree.
“Wings of the Wind,”Elena whispered as the ground rushed up toward her, very fast.
The wings unfolded instantly from somewhere inside Elena. They weren’t real, they spanned some forty feet and were made of golden gossamer, the color ranging from deepest Baltic amber at her back to ethereal pale citrine at the tips. They were almost still, barely rising and falling, but they held her up, the wind rushing under them, and they got her to exactly where she needed to go.
Not to Bonnie. That was what they would all be expecting. From her height, she just might be able to snatch Bonnie free, but she had no idea how to cut Bonnie’s bonds or whether she could lift off again.
Instead Elena swerved toward the widow’s walk at the last moment, snatched the pruning shears out of Meredith’s upraised hand, and then caught a handful of long, silky black-and-scarlet hair. Misao shrieked.And then…
That was when Elena really needed some belief. So far she had really just been gliding, not flying. But now she needed uplift; she needed the wings to work …and once again, although there was no time, she was with Stefan, and feeling…
…the first time she had kissed him. Other girls might have waited until it was the other way around, letting the boy take the lead, but not Elena. Besides, at first Stefan had thought that all kissing meant was seducing prey….
…the first time he had kissed her, understanding that it wasn’t a predatory relationship…
And now she needed to really fly ….
I know I can….
But Misao was just so heavy — and Elena’s memory was faltering. The great golden wings trembled and became still. Shinichi was trying to climb a creeper to get to her, and Damon was holding Meredith motionless.
And, too late, Elena realized that it wasn’t going to work.
She was alone, and she couldn’t fight this way. Not against so many.
She was alone, and pain that made her want to shriek was lancing through her back. Misao was somehow making herself heavier, and in another minute she would be too heavy for Elena’s trembling wings to hold up.
She was alone, and like the rest of the humans, she was going to dieAnd then, through the agony that was causing fine sweat to break out all over her body, she heard Stefan’s voice.
“Elena! Let go! Fall and I’ll catch you!”
How strange, Elena thought, as if in a dream. His love and panic had distorted his voice somehow — making him sound different. Making him sound almost like“Elena! I’m with you!”
— like Damon.
Shaken out of her dream, Elena looked below her. And there was Damon, standing protectively in front of Meredith, looking up at her, with his arms held out.
He was with her.
“Meredith,” he went on, “girl, this is no time to be sleepwalking! Your friend needs you!Elena needs you!”
Slowly, dully, Meredith turned her face up. And Elena saw life and animation restored to it as her eyes focused on the trembling of the great golden wings.
“Elena!” she shouted, “I’m with you! Elena!”
How did she know to say that? The answer was — that she was Meredith — and Meredith always knew what to say.
And now the cry was being taken up by another voice: Matt’s.
“Elena!” he shouted, in a sort of acclamation. “I’m with you, Elena!”
And Dr. Alpert’s deep voice: “Elena! I’m with you, Elena!”
And Mrs. Flowers, surprisingly strong: “Elena! I’m with you, Elena!”
And even poor Bonnie: “Elena!We’re with you, Elena!”
While deep in her heart, the real Stefan whispered, “I’m with you, my angel.”
“We’re all with you, Elena!”
She didn’t drop Misao. It was as if the great golden wings had caught an updraft; in fact, they almost lifted her straight up, out of control — but somehow she managed to keep herself steady. She was still looking down and she saw the tears spill from her eyes and fall toward Damon’s outstretched arms. Elena didn’t know why she was crying, but part of it was sorrow for ever having doubted him.
Because Damon wasn’t just on her side. Unless she was wrong, he was willing to die for her — was courting death for her. He threw himself into the entangling creepers and vines, all reaching for Meredith or for Elena.
It had only taken an instant to get hold of Misao, but Shinichi was already leaping toward Elena, in fox form, lips drawn back, aiming to tear her throat out. These were no ordinary foxes. Shinichi was almost as big as a wolf — certainly the size of a large dog — and as vicious as a wolverine.
Meanwhile the entire widow’s walk burst into a maze of vines, creepers, and fibrous tendrils, and Shinichi was being lifted by them. Elena didn’t know which way to dodge. She needed time, and she needed a clear shot out of here.
All Caroline was doing was screaming.
And then Elena saw her opening. A gap in the creepers that she threw herself at, knowing in her subconscious that she was throwing herself over the railing as well, and somehow keeping her hold on Misao’s hair. In fact, it must have been an extremely painful experience for the female kitsune as she swung back and forth like a pendulum below Elena.
The one glance Elena was able to give over her shoulder showed Damon, still moving faster than anything Elena had ever seen. He had Meredith in his arms now and was hurrying her through a gap that led to the cupula door. As soon as she stepped in, she appeared down on the ground and ran toward the altar where Bonnie was lying, only to slam into one of the Tree-Men. For a moment, as Damon glanced toward Elena, their gazes met and
