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 beinglifted 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 something electric passed between them. It made Elena tingle all over, that look did.
Then she refocused: Caroline was screaming again; Misao was using her whip to get a grip on Elena's leg and was calling on Tree-Men to give her a lift. Elena needed to fly higher. She had no idea how she
was controlling her golden gossamer wings, but nothing seemed to snarl them; and they obeyed her slightest whim as though she had always had them. The great trick was to not think ofhow to get somewhere, but just to imagine being there.
On the other hand, the Tree-Men were growing. It was like some childhood nightmare of giants, and at first it made Elena feel that it was she who was shrinking. But the hideous creatures were actually overtopping the house now, and their upper, snake-like branches slashed into her legs while Misao lashed out with her whip. Elena's jeans were in shreds now. She swallowed a cry of pain.
I have to fly higher.
I can do it.
I'm going to save you all.
Ibelieve.
Faster than the swoop of a hummingbird, she was darting up in the clear air again, still holding Misao by her long black-and-red hair. And Misao was screaming, screams that Shinichi echoed even as he fought with Damon.
And then, just as she and Damon had planned, just as she and Damon hadhoped , Misao turned into her true form and Elena was holding a large and heavy, writhing vixen by the scruff of its neck.
There was a difficult moment while Elena got the balance right. She had to remember that there was more weight in back because Misao had six tails and was heaviest where a real fox would be lightest.
By then she had swooped back to her perch in the tree, and she stood there, able to look down on the scene below, the Tree-Men too slow to keep up. The plan had gone perfectly, except that Damon, of all people, had forgotten what he was supposed to be doing. Far from retreating into possession, he had fooled Shinichi and Misao beautifully - and Elena, too. Now, according to their plan he was supposed to be taking care of any innocent bystanders, letting Elena lure Shinichi on.
Instead something inside him seemed to have snapped; and he was methodically beating the human-shaped Shinichi's head against the house, shouting: "Damn...you! Where...is...my...brother?"
"I - could kill you - right now - " Shinichi shouted back, but he was short of breath. He wasn't finding Damon an easy opponent.
"Do it!" Damon returned immediately. "And then she" - pointing to the perching Elena - "will cut your sister's throat!"
Shinichi's contempt was scathing.
"You expect me to believe that a girl with an aura likethat willkill - "
There comes a time when you have to make a stand. And for Elena, blazing with defiance and glory, this was that time. She took a deep breath, begged the Universe's forgiveness, and leaned down, positioning the pruning shears. Then she squeezed as hard as she could.
And a red-tipped black vixen's tail fell twisting to the ground, while Misao shrieked in pain and rage. As the tail fell it writhed, and it lay in the middle of the clearing, squirming like a snake that wasn't quite defeated yet. Then it became transparent and faded away.
That was when Shinichi really screamed, "Do you know what you've done, you ignorant bitch? I'll bring this place down on top of you! I'll tear you apart!"
"Oh, yes, of course you will. But first," Damon spoke each word deliberately, "you have to get past me."
Elena barely registered their words. It hadn't been easy for her to squeeze those shears. It had meant thinking about Meredith with the shears in her own hands, and Bonnie lying on the altar, and Matt, earlier, writhing on the ground. And Mrs. Flowers, and the three lost little girls, and Isobel and - a great deal - about Stefan.
But as for the first time in her life she drew another's blood with her own hands, she had a sudden strange sense of responsibility - of newaccountability . As if an icy wind had blown her hair back sharply and said into her frozen, gasping face:Never without reason. Never without necessity. Never unless there's no other solution available.
Elena felt something inside her grow up, all at once. Too fast to say good-bye to childhood, she had become a warrior.
"You all thought I couldn't fight," she called to the assembled group. "You were wrong. You thought I was powerless. You were wrong there, too. And I'll use the last drop of my Power in this fight, because you twins are real monsters. No, you're - abominations. And if I die I'll rest with Honoria Fell, and I'll watch over Fell's Church again."