whispering. A girl like this wasn’t meant for the slums at all; she must
have been destined for the heart of the city. Her aura alone was enough
to show that. In fact, with that golden hair and those vivid blue eyes, she
might even be a Guardian from the Other Side. Who knew—?
The lash that was raised never descended. Before it could, there
was a flash of black lightning—pure Power—that sent half the crowd
scattering. A vampire, young in appearance and dressed in the clothing
of the upper world, Earth, had made his way to stand between the golden
girl and the slave owner—or rather to loom over the now cringing slave
owner. The few in the crowd not stirred by the girl immediately felt their
hearts pulse at the sight of him. He was the girl’s owner, surely, and now
he would see to the situation.
At that instant, Bonnie and Meredith arrived on the scene. They
were reclining on their litter, decorously draped in their veils, Meredith
in starry midnight blue and Bonnie in soft pale green. They could have
been an illustration for The Arabian Nights.
But the moment they saw Damon and Elena, they most
indecorously jumped off the litter. By now the crowd was so thick that
working their way to the front required using elbows and knees, but in
only seconds they were at Elena’s side, hands defiantly unbound or