Chapter 2

When I returned to the estate, drenched from head to toe, every light in the house was on.

"Drink some warm water."

He sat down beside me, concern written all over his face.

It might have meant something if Selene had not been sitting there too.

I took the cup and almost laughed.

Selene had Damon's coat over her shoulders, her face pale.

She said softly,

"Damon, can I stay here tonight?"

"I'm a little scared."

Damon looked at me.

Almost without thinking, he stepped in front of her, already waiting for me to make a scene.

The old Evelyn would have.

She would have demanded an explanation.

This time, I only paused for a second.

"Sure."

"Stay as long as you want."

Damon's frown deepened.

I did not look at either of them again. I changed my shoes and went straight to the master bathroom.

Hot water ran over me, but I still felt cold to the bone.

It was not the first time something like this had happened.

The day Selene returned to New York, Damon brought her back to the estate.

She was drunk, leaning against him, her fingers still hooked around his tie.

I stood at the top of the stairs and watched him carry her into the master bedroom.

"That's our room."

I had been so angry I laughed.

"You're letting her sleep there? Does that seem appropriate to you?"

Damon did not even stop walking.

He placed Selene on the bed, then went to the bathroom for a warm towel.

"Evelyn, watch your tone."

"Selene damaged her health because of me. She just came back to New York. I'm the only person she has."

"Don't make an issue out of this."

I stood in the doorway and watched him lower his head to wipe her face.

Once, I came back from a job covered in blood.

Damon had pulled me into his arms without hesitation, kissed my stained cheek, then carried me to the bathroom and washed every trace of blood from my skin himself.

For years, I had believed that tenderness belonged only to me.

Now he was giving that same tenderness to someone else.

A knock on the bathroom door pulled me back.

"Evelyn."

Damon's voice came through the wood.

"Come out. We need to talk."

I did not answer.

When I finished showering, he was still waiting outside, a hair dryer in his hand.

"Sit."

"I'll dry your hair."

I was too tired to push him away.

Warm air moved through my hair.

His fingers threaded through it, gentler than usual.

"Let today pass," he said.

"After the wedding, I'll make it up to you."

I looked at him in the mirror.

I first met Damon in an underground bar.

At sixteen, I had walked away when the elders of the Hale family began discussing my marriage.

I wanted to know who I was without the Hale name, and whether anyone could love Evelyn without wanting something from her family.

So I refused the family's money, buried my surname, and went to New York alone.

I had only meant to stay away for a while.

By the time I met Damon, I was working in one of the roughest parts of the city.

Four drunk men blocked my way and tried to force me into a private room.

I drove my elbow into one man's ribs and kicked another in the knee, but a third caught me from behind before I could reach the exit.

The fourth twisted a fist into my hair and dragged me toward the door.

Just before the door closed, Damon appeared.

He kicked those men to the ground, then turned to me.

"Are you all right? Do you need me to take you to a hospital?"

Too stubborn to admit how much it hurt, I shook my head.

A faint smile touched his lips.

"Most girls your age would've frozen. You fought back. That was brave."

From that moment on, I was gone.

Later, I stayed by his side and told him only that my parents lived far away, that I was alone, that I had nowhere else to go.

Damon believed me.

When my father finally offered to bring me home, I chose Damon instead.

He always thought I could not leave him.

He never knew the Hale family had been waiting for me to come home all these years.

The dryer stopped.

Damon looked at me through the mirror.

"Why aren't you saying anything?"

I met his eyes in the mirror.

"Damon, what would you do if I left?"

His hand went still.

For the first time that night, panic broke through his composure.

"Evelyn, I--"

The door opened before he could finish.

Selene stood there with red eyes.

"Damon, I can't sleep."

"Can you stay with me?"

Damon looked torn, but his gaze kept drifting back to her.

I stood and pulled the door open wider.

"Go."

The room fell silent.

He opened his mouth as if he still wanted to answer me.

In the end, he said nothing and walked out with Selene.

He never answered my question.

He did not need to.

He did not come back that night.

Sometime after midnight, thirst drove me downstairs for water.

As I passed the curved staircase, Selene called my name from behind.

"Evelyn."

She stood with one hand on the railing, her eyes already red.

"I only want us to get along."

"Please don't hate me just because Damon stayed with me."

I did not want to hear it. I turned toward the stairs.

Selene hurried after me and caught my wrist.

"Just let me explain."

I pulled free.

"Don't touch me."

The next second, she threw herself backward.

But before she fell, her fingers locked around my wrist and dragged me with her.

My abdomen struck the corner of the landing.

Pain exploded through me.

Selene's scream woke the entire estate.

Damon reached us first.

The moment he saw me crumpled at the bottom of the stairs, his expression changed. He started toward me without thinking.

"Evelyn!"

Before he reached me, Selene clutched her leg and sobbed.

"Damon, my leg hurts..."

"Evelyn probably didn't mean to push me. Please don't blame her."

"My chest hurts too..."

She pressed a hand to the left side of her chest.

It was the exact spot where the bullet she had taken for Damon had left its scar.

Damon stopped.

His gaze moved between my bloodless face and Selene's shaking body.

In the end, he turned and lifted her into his arms.

"Call a doctor," he ordered the housekeeper.

But he did not look at me again.

I curled on the cold floor, in so much pain that every breath made me shake.

Then blood began spreading beneath my dress.

The servants rushed me to the hospital.

Before I lost consciousness, all I could see was Damon carrying Selene away.

He had taken one step toward me.

In the end, he still chose her.