"More than just that," Stefan said, shaking his head. "I couldn't have done any of this without you. Elena, everything I do is because of you." His eyes shone, and he ran his fingers softly over her cheek. "And you're safe. This is the end. Now that Celine is dead, there are no more Old Ones."
"Not that we know of," Elena said, twisting her lips ruefully. If there was one thing she had learned over the past few years, it was that it was never truly over.
"But we're safe for now." He kissed her again, his body solid against hers. Elena let herself fall into the kiss. Their minds intertwined, sending each other love and desire, and then she reluctantly pulled away.
"We need to leave for Bonnie's birthday party in a few minutes," she said firmly.
Stefan smiled and pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head before stepping back. "It's okay," he said. "We've got plenty of time."
He headed for the bathroom to wash up, his stride loose and relaxed.
Elena looked after him thoughtfully. It was true. Now that Elena had drunk from the Fountain of Eternal Youth and Life, she would be beside Stefan forever. They had all the time in the world.
She knew she should be content. But with every steady beat of her heart, she couldn't help returning to the apprehension in the back of her mind. Despite their shared immortality, despite Celine's death, Elena had a bad feeling that time was running out.
Chapter 2
Today, Bonnie felt happy. She had woken up to Zander cooking her a delicious breakfast, and the sun shining in her honor, on what really felt like the first day of summer. And then her entire kindergarten class sang "Happy Birthday" and presented her with a giant card that included twenty-one little painted handprints and twenty-one names, from Astrid to Zachary, printed in little-kid wobbly letters that she, Bonnie, had personally taught them to make over the course of the year.
"It was the cutest thing ever," Bonnie said, gazing happily around at her assembled friends. "One of the moms even baked me cupcakes."
And now she got to sit on a velvet chaise longue in a lovely bar full of Christmas lights and pink cocktails and enjoy herself.
Meredith, elegant as ever in a classic black dress, handed Bonnie a bubbling glass of champagne as she sat down beside her. Meredith's husband of six months, Alaric, patted Bonnie's shoulder affectionately before turning to pull over a seat of his own.
"Your class sounds adorable," Meredith said. "But I think the cutest thing ever might be that you got Zander to come to a cocktail lounge called the Beauty Mark."
"Zander likes to make me happy," Bonnie said simply. She glanced over to where her boyfriend straddled a tiny ornate golden chair with a pink leopard-print seat. She watched as Zander tilted the chair onto two legs and flung his arms wide, saying something to his Packmate Jared. The chair creaked and wobbled alarmingly under his weight. Bonnie winced. "It's possible this isn't his natural setting, though," she admitted.
Werewolf guys always seemed too big and rowdy to be inside, as if they might accidentally break things. Werewolf girls, on the other hand ... Zander's second in command, Shay, met Bonnie's gaze and raised her own glass in a silent toast. Shay didn't get to do girlie stuff much and looked like she was enjoying herself. Bonnie squinted a little, catching a glimmer from Shay's pale skin. Was she wearing body glitter?
"Thank God Shay started dating Jared, right?" Elena said, plopping down on Bonnie's other side and following her gaze. Stefan, standing beside them, inclined his head to Bonnie in what was almost a formal bow.
"Happy birthday, Bonnie," he said solemnly, handing her two packages. The larger one was wrapped in polka-dot paper and tied with a pink bow; the smaller was much heavier and wrapped in a dark silk that shimmered with subtle rainbows.
"The big one's from us," Elena said. "The other one's from Damon. He sent it to us to give to you."
"Ooh, thank you," Bonnie said, looking at the packages with interest. She'd never gotten a gift from Damon before, but she had a feeling it would be something special. Damon was so elegant, so sophisticated, so intriguing, with his sleek dark hair and sharp smile that every so often softened for Bonnie ... he was unlikely to give a girl, say, a DVD. Not that there was anything wrong with a DVD.
She politely opened Elena and Stefan's present first: a delicate filmy top she'd had her eye on when she'd gone shopping with Elena a couple of weeks earlier. "Gorgeous," she said with a wink, holding it up to herself amid a chorus of approval. "Thank you so much." She held out her wrist to Elena and Meredith, showing them a bracelet of gold filigree dotted with semiprecious stones. "Look at what Zander gave me! And he got me about a year's supply of dittany of Crete-an herb, for charm making," she added, for Elena's benefit. "It's really hard to find. He must have had to order it especially for me."
"It's beautiful," Elena said, and Meredith nodded approvingly. For such a guy's guy, Bonnie reflected, Zander was surprisingly good at buying presents for a girl. At least if that girl was Bonnie.
She couldn't concentrate on Zander's many wonderful qualities just now, though, not with a mysterious package from Damon in her lap, waiting to be opened.
She carefully unwrapped the silk. Inside was a small, rounded box that fit perfectly in the palm of her hand. It looked almost like a river rock, polished gray with a slight blue sheen to it. Opening the box, she found inside a delicate carved bird, in the same bluish-gray material, on a thin silver chain. There was also a note on thick, creamy paper, folded small.
"Wow," Elena said, bending to peer more closely at the bird. "What is it? It looks old."