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Even through the numbness, Elena felt a quick thrill of fear. She looked at him, a strangely elegant
figure among the tombstones, his face pale in the moonlight. He had never looked so… so beautiful to
her before, but that beauty was almost alien. Not just foreign, but inhuman, because no human could
project that aura of power, or of distance.
"Thank you. That would be very kind," she said slowly. There was nothing else to do.
They left Tyler painfully getting to his feet by his ancestor's headstone. Elena felt another chill as
they reached the path and Stefan turned toward Wickery Bridge.
"I left my car at the boarding house," he said. "This is the fastest way for us to get back."
"Is this the way you came?"
"No. I didn't cross the bridge. But it'll be safe."
Elena believed him. Pale and silent, he walked beside her without touching, except when he took
off his blazer to put it around her bare shoulders. She felt oddly sure he would kill anything that tried
to get at her.
Wickery Bridge was white in the moonlight, and under it the icy waters swirled over ancient rocks.
The whole world was still and beautiful and cold as they walked through the oak trees to the narrow
country road.
They passed fenced pastures and dark fields until they reached a long winding drive. The boarding
house was a vast building of rust-red brick made from the native clay, and it was flanked with age-old
cedars and maples. All but one of the windows were dark.
Stefan unlocked one of the double doors and they stepped into a small hallway, with a flight of
stairs directly in front of them. The banister, like the doors, was natural light oak so polished that it
seemed to glow.
They went up the stairs to a second-story landing that was poorly lit. To Elena's surprise,
Stefan led her into one of the bedrooms and opened what looked like a closet door. Through it she
could see a very steep, very narrow stairway.
What a strange place, she thought. This hidden stairway buried deep in the heart of the house, where
no sound from outside could penetrate. She reached the top of the stairs and stepped out into a large
room that made up the whole third story of the house.
It was almost as dimly lit as the stairway, but Elena could see the stained wood floor and the
exposed beams in the slanting ceiling. There were tall windows on all sides, and many trunks
scattered among a few pieces of massive furniture.
She realized he was watching her. "Is there a bathroom where I – ?"
He nodded toward a door. She took off the blazer, held it toward him without looking at him, and
went inside.