TEN

Stefan called John to check on their progress and told him what we had found. They were checking one of the two lumber yards in the city so we took the other one. Once we asked locals who spoke English how to find it, we took off with our speed and stopped in front of the building. "It looks like a Home Depot," I breathed as Stefan opened the door for me.

"I was just thinking that," he returned and we stepped inside.

A man in work clothes pulled off his gloves and smiled our way before approaching us. He said something in what I assumed was Romanian and I shook my head. "English?" he asked, his voice was pleasantly Brittish. "Thank God. My Romanian is horrible. What can I do for you?" he asked us.

"We need some White Ash wood. I know it grows in North America, but I hoped you might have some in stock," I explained.

His brows furrowed as he beckoned for us to follow him to the counter off to the side. "We just had a shipment of product come in this morning. It's possible that it was on the truck."

I let out a deep breath to calm my nerves. "That would be great."

Stefan reached for my hand and squeezed reassuringly. The man stared at the computer, clicking every so often with the mouse. "Ah, it looks like we did get some in," he said and looked at me.

"Perfect," Stefan said for me. My throat had gone dry and I couldn't talk even if I wanted to.

"It looks like it was a special order though," he said and turned towards us. "And the client already paid for it."

"Whatever the price was, we'll pay double," Stefan said confidently.

The man's brow rose and his eyes widened. "That's quite a lot of lumber." He looked between the both of us again and then sighed. "Alright, I'll give you two planks and make something up for the client."

"You would do that?" I asked, finding my voice.

His eyes flickered my way and he nodded. "I can tell you need it for something important and I would feel horrible for not giving it to you. Besides, it looks like you were prepared to rip my throat out to get it anyway." His eyes flashed and my lips parted as I realized what he was trying to tell me.

"Werewolf," I whispered and felt my lips curve into a smirk.

He grinned, his green eyes flashing golden for a brief moment. "I don't know any vampires who buy wood for any reason. I can only assume that you're going to kill a very special one since this is a hard to find wood." He kept his voice low even though no one would be able to hear us over the noise of the saws.

"Exactly."

"It's none of my business, but since vampires generally don't kill vampires, I feel more inclined to help you." His eyes gave me a once over and his nose twitched. "I can smell the wolf blood in you."

Of course he could. I wondered why the vampires at Red Sea hadn't noticed it. They might have been too distracted by my resemblance to Katherine to care. I cleared my throat and smiled briefly. "Yes, I have a werewolf friend."

He chuckled softly at how I said friend. "From what I've heard, our blood was lethal to your kind."

"I guess we'll find out when the full moon hits," I returned.

He extended his hand and I grasped it with my own. "I'm Remy."

"Elena," I said and nodded towards Stefan. "This is Stefan."

"Is the vampire you're after pretty dangerous?" he asked.

"When he wants to be," I replied. "He took something that belongs to the both of us and we came to get it back. Whatever the cost. I have it on good authority that Bucharest will be safer with this vampire out of the picture."

"Normally, the word of a vampire doesn't mean anything," he said pointedly and looked between the both of us. "But I've never met a vampire about to kill one of theirs either. I'll be right back," he assured me and went to get the planks.

"That went well," I said, looking at Stefan. Neither of us were sure what to make of what just happened.

"He's either going to do as he said and get the planks for us or he's sharpening some stakes to come back and kill us." His eyes were sparkling with humor as he said this.

"You should call the others and tell them we found some," I said and he stepped outside to make the phone call.

"What did the vamp take from you?" Remy asked, startling me for the first time in a long time. He had a flatbed with two planks half as tall as me.

"My mate," I stated. "It's complicated," I added after he gave me a look that said he expected me to continue.

He let out a low whistle and handed me two pairs of new gloves. "Here, you and your companion are going to need this if you're making stakes."

"That was thoughtful. Thank you," I said and took them from him.

"Your wolf friend, does he belong to a pack?"

I opened my mouth to answer and then closed it, realizing I didn't have an answer. I never asked Tyler if his uncle ever asked him to join the pack up in Maine. "I'm not sure."

"When you get what you came for, have your friend come and see me. We're always looking for new members," he said as Stefan came back into the shop.

He gathered both planks in his arms and thanked Remy. "You have no idea how much this means to us," Stefan said.

The sincerity in the word "us" was enough to make my day complete. "My pleasure," he said and extended his hand to me again. I used that opportunity to search his mind, just in case this selfless act was a rouse and found that it was genuine. "Before you leave, you have to come back and tell me what happened."

I didn't say anything to indicated that we would or wouldn't before I left with Stefan and returned to the hotel. We had used our speed all the way up the stairs until we got to the room. We put the wood on the floor in front of the couch and sat down while we waited for the others to return. "That was strange," Stefan said after a few minutes, referring to our encounter with Remy. "Out of all the people in the city, we run into a werewolf."

I nodded. "First Allorah in Russia and now Remy. It's just too much of a coincidence for my taste," I said. "I just don't know why everything is happening at once. It's like once I met Anya, everything changed."

"Maybe your luck changed. All that bad luck has to have a counter balance," he teased before he got up. "Drink?"

"Yes please," I answered, putting my feet on the coffee table.

We drank in silence that broke once the others came into the room carrying armfuls of scraps. Stefan and I put the gloves Remy had given me on and all went to work on making as many stakes as we could while forming a plan. Stefan and I were to go in and break into whatever lay behind that other door inside the club. John and Alaric were going to come in after us and wind their way through the crowd. Tyler was going to be lookout because we were certain that his presence would start something we didn't need. It wasn't the best of plans, but no one else seemed to have a better idea. All of us were going to be armed with as many stakes as we could carry. We even made them in varying sizes so that we could carry more. By the time we were done it was around ten o'clock; completely dark outside except for the city lights. It was a long car ride, one that was filled with gloom. Of course I was in a good mood because we were getting closer to finding Damon, but at the same time, we didn't know what to expect.

We parked several blocks away and walked the rest of it. Goodbye didn't seem to be appropriate before parting ways so Stefan and I separated from the group without saying a word. Be careful I heard three different voices direct towards me. I smiled even though I wasn't facing them. I had put the sunglasses on again; not because my eyes were glowing, but because they hid most of my face. I wasn't as recognizable with them on. "Just head straight to the door and stay close," I told Stefan.

The same boy was at the entrance and he waved us in without saying a word. This time, the dance floor was crowded with people dressed in black and various other dark colors. It reminded me of the time in Dublin when Damon introduced me to his friend Sebastian who co-owned the bar. I scanned the crowd and looked at Stefan who nodded before we ventured deeper inside and pushed our way through the dancers. We were going to make an effort to fit in before we determined if there was any security in place. After about five minutes of pretending to dance along with the beat, it didn't appear that the door was being guarded by anyone. How should we go over there without looking suspicious? I asked.

I have an idea, but you can't get mad at me, he replied and I didn't have time to ask what he meant before he led me through the rest of the crowd. As we broke through, he pretended to stumble as he pulled me close and pressed his lips to mine. I wanted to push him away, but I didn't want to draw more attention by fighting him. I let him kiss me as we both stumbled through the crowd surrounding the dance floor, laughing and tripping over tables and chairs until my back hit the wall right next to the door. I reached for the handle and twisted, surprised that it wasn't locked.

We slipped inside and the minute it shut behind us, I pushed him away and wiped my mouth. "What the hell did you do that for?" I hissed, keeping my voice low. I was too angry to form the thought.

It worked didn't it? he countered and nodded towards the spiral staircase hidden in the back by racks of storage shelves. I did it to get us over here without drawing anyone's attention. Not for anything else.

I said nothing as I moved ahead of him and began descending. The farther down we went, the harder it was to see. I pushed my sunglasses up into my hair and found that even though there was practically no light, I could see. I thanked both Tyler and Anya because I didn't know which person was responsible for this. At the end of the stairs there was a door surrounded in light where the cracks were. We opened it and had to blink to adjust to the sudden bright light and my blood turned icy at what I saw.

There, in the middle of the room on an oversized black throne-like chair, was a sight that I never expected to see. "Damon?" I breathed, trying to make sense of it all.