even had a chance to swing it. It smashe

ip iron-tight. "Stop fighting. It'll

, kicking and twistin

make my ears ring. My head snapped sidew

ipped on the broken glass, and I saw a stre

gainst the wall, a dark stain spre

ere going to take me. Whoever want

irs. That's when the front d

back so hard it sl

ded the foyer. F

ood at t

r, a smear of dirt or blood across his jaw. He looked stra

e f

mon's voice was

laugh, but it sounded shaky. "Or

't flinch.

cked throu

opped like a dead weight, blo

lipped, just for a second, but I

Elena!" Dam

abbed for me, but another gunshot rang out. This one

n looking, gun drawn now. He towered over the w

" Damon's voic

to h

un to his knee and

sperate. The man writhed on the flo

take

...to get

ntonio, standing below. "Clean this up. Make

nodded

king so hard I could barely stay uprig

he just looked, eyes burning. No

h you?" His vo

Just

pulled off what was left of his shirt, left in only a black undershirt, and wrappe

you s

My legs

, went stiff. He smelled like gunpowder, sweat, the

away, past Marco checking Enzo's pulse. He didn't take me to th

bedroom was huge and cold, the air thick with his sce

n on the edge

om. Water ran. He came back wi

ted cleaning the cuts on my feet

htened, holding me still

Thorne," he said

ined from my face

e air you breathe, Elena. Don't forget that." He pressed

ques

ared," I

hat's mine. Not some college kid. Not a rival gang." His eyes met mine gray, wild, terrifyin

e. His hands lingered, just a moment t

st heaving. Fury and adrena

m tonight," he said.

bed, sat down, and yanked off his

g and clean, dangling above the floor. He

is head. The silence pressed in, heavy with everything

to settle when he spoke, his wo

er than I'd ever heard it, "I won't just kill him, Elena. I'll ru

way, his ba

to s