Phantom Read Free Page B

fun planned for today?”
    “Stefan is picking me up after breakfast,” Elena said, then paused. The last time she had talked to Aunt Judith, after the disastrous Founder’s Day pageant, Aunt Judith and Robert had been seriously anti-Stefan. They, like most of the town, had suspected him of being responsible for Mr. Tanner’s death.
    But apparently they had no problem with Stefan in this world, because Robert simply nodded. And, she reminded herself, if the Guardians had done what she asked, Mr. Tanner was alive, so they couldn’t have suspected Stefan of killing him. . . . Oh, it was all so confusing !
    She went on: “We’re going to hang out in town, maybe catch up with Meredith and the others.” She couldn’t wait to see the town back to its old, safe self and to be with Stefan when, for once, they weren’t battling some horrible evil but could just be a normal couple.
    Aunt Judith grinned. “So, just another lazy day, hmm? I’m glad you’re having a nice summer before you go off to college, Elena. You worked so hard all last year.”
    “Mmm,” said Elena vaguely, cutting into her waffle. She hoped the Guardians had gotten her into Dalcrest, a small college a couple hours away, as she’d requested.
    “Come on up, Meggie,” Robert said, buttering the little girl’s waffle. Margaret scrambled up onto her chair, and Elena smiled at the obvious affection on Robert’s face. Margaret was clearly his darling little girl.
    Catching Elena’s eye, Margaret growled and thrust the toy tiger across the table toward her. Elena jumped. The little girl snarled, and her face was momentarily transformed into something savage.
    “He wants to eat you with his big teeth,” Margaret said, her little-girl voice hoarse. “He’s coming to get you.”
    “Margaret!” Aunt Judith scolded as Elena shuddered. Margaret’s briefly feral look reminded her of the kitsune, of the girls they had driven mad. But then Margaret gave her a huge grin and made the tiger nuzzle Elena’s arm.
    The doorbell rang. Elena crammed the last bite of waffle into her mouth. “That’s Stefan,” she mumbled around it. “See you later.” She wiped her lips and checked her hair in the mirror before opening the door.
    And there was Stefan, as handsome as ever. Elegant Roman features, high cheekbones, a classical straight nose, and sensually curving mouth. He held his sunglasses loosely in one hand, and his leaf green eyes caught hers with a gaze of pure love. Elena broke into a wide, involuntary smile.
    Oh, Stefan, she thought to him, I love you, I love you. It’s so wonderful to be home. I can’t stop missing Damon and wishing we could have done something differently and saved him—and I wouldn’t want to stop thinking of him—but I can’t help being happy, too.
    Wait. She felt like someone had slammed on the brakes and she’d been thrown against a seat belt.
    Though Elena was sending the words, and a huge wave of affection and love with them, toward Stefan, there was no response, no return of emotions. It was as if there were an invisible wall between her and Stefan, blocking her thoughts from reaching him.
    “Elena?” Stefan said aloud, his smile faltering.
    Oh. She hadn’t realized. She hadn’t even thought about this.
    When the Guardians took her powers, they must have taken everything. Including her telepathic connection to Stefan. It had lingered. . . . She was sure she had still heard him, and reached his mind, after she had lost her connection to Bonnie. But now it was gone completely.
    Leaning forward, she grasped his shirt, pulled him to her, and kissed him fiercely.
    Oh, thank God, she thought, as she felt the familiar, comforting sense of their minds entwining. Stefan’s lips curled into a smile beneath hers.
    I thought I’d lost you, she thought, that I wouldn’t be able to reach you like this anymore, either. Unlike with the telepathic connection they’d shared, she knew the thoughts weren’t reaching Stefan as