"That's not supposed to happen," she said, and flushed, because the words sounded stupid to her own ears. "I mean, I read an article about movie cliches, and a lot of it was about how cars almost never explode. Certainly not just from running into a tree." As she spoke, she felt her heart steady. If they could talk logically about the why and the how, maybe she wouldn't have to think about the what. The fact that she could have been gone forever, never see Stefan or Damon again.
"It was a telephone pole," Jack said drily, and then the corners of his mouth turned up in a sudden and unexpected smile. It changed his whole face. He looked friendly and open, and Elena knew her earlier instinct to trust him had been the right one.
She tried to take a step and stumbled, feeling suddenly sick. Jack hurried forward to steady her, concern etched on his face.
"We need to get you home," he said, his hand under her arm, supporting her. "And you're right. This doesn't just happen." They both turned to look back at the steadily burning car.
"I don't understand," she mumbled. She felt like she might laugh, or scream. Possibly she had a concussion, because nothing seemed to be making any sense.
Jack wiped his hand across his face in a quick, nervous gesture. "Elena," he said, "this was no accident."
Chapter 7
"I should have been there to protect you," Stefan said wretchedly, wrapping his arms around Elena and burying his face in her hair. "I'm so sorry." While he had been relaxing in the apartment, Elena had almost died. And he wouldn't have even known until the police came to their door.
The world swung dizzyingly, and he clutched at her for balance. The thought of Elena dying was like an endless fall into a dark void. Elena had never been safe, never would be, no matter how many Old Ones he killed.
"There's nothing you could have done, Stefan," Elena said calmly, steadying him. She glanced around the room at all of her worried friends. Her eyes landed on the stranger-Jack-who had gotten her out of the car after the crash and brought her home. "It all happened so fast."
"Thank you for helping," Stefan said to Jack. Jack nodded pleasantly from his seat on the couch. He seemed to be taking everything in, his dark eyes flicking over the whole group with interest-maybe too much interest. He hadn't called the police, hadn't taken Elena to the hospital; he had just brought her home. Jack was an outsider; what did he think was going on?
"The important thing is to make sure that Damon's all right." Elena let go of Stefan and sat down beside Jack on the couch, closing her eyes with a little frown. Stefan knew she was reaching for her bond with his brother. He did his best to push down the jealousy that threatened to break the surface. Elena loved him; he was the one she'd chosen. But it was hard to accept the fact that she and Damon shared something that he couldn't really understand. "Whatever's going on, it doesn't feel like he's in danger now," Elena said after a moment.
Stefan breathed a sigh of relief, realizing belatedly that Jack must think they were crazy. But his gaze remained polite and attentive.
Meredith came back in from the kitchen with a washcloth, brushing past Bonnie and Matt, and sat down between Jack and Elena to dab carefully at the blood on Elena's forehead. "It looks like the cut's all healed up," she said. "And your pupils are normal, so you're probably not concussed anymore."
"Score one for the amazing properties of vampire blood," Elena said, smiling up at Stefan.
Stefan flinched backward, feeling his eyes widen. Meredith frowned in surprise, and Bonnie looked up from the floor by the couch where she was going through a bag of herbs, her mouth open in surprise. Matt had been worrying silently in the side armchair nearby, but now he unclenched his jaw to protest, "Elena ..."
"It's okay," Elena said, tipping her head back to smile reassuringly up at Stefan. "Jack knows all about us. He was following me because he wants to talk to us."
A chill ran through Stefan-all about them?-and he felt his eyes narrow suspiciously. In a second, he was looming over Jack. Grabbing the front of his shirt, he yanked him to his feet. "You were following her?" he asked, his voice low and dangerous.
Jack held up his hands. "Wait," he told Stefan, "I'm on your side. I helped Elena."
"I have to ask," Meredith said dryly, folding the washcloth and dropping it on the coffee table. "If you weren't the one who tampered with Elena's car, how did you know it was going to blow up?"
Jack chuckled and leaned back, pulling his shirt out of Stefan's hands. "I like you," he told Meredith. "I bet your dad's really proud of you."
Before Meredith could snap a reply-after all, Stefan thought, it was a patronizing thing to say-Jack raised his hands and crooked his pinkie fingers together, balling his other fingers into fists and bringing his thumbs together above them to make a triangle.
The sign meant nothing to Stefan, but Meredith gasped. "You're a hunter," she said, in a far less confrontational voice. "You know my father?"
Jack smiled. "Not personally, no. He doesn't have contact with hunters anymore; I guess you know that. But 'Nando Sulez is a legend. It's an honor to meet his daughter."
The hard line of Meredith's mouth softened in surprise, and Stefan backed off a little, still suspicious. "The fact that you're a vampire hunter hardly gives me a reason to trust you," he said. Elena reached a hand out to touch his leg, her thumb running comfortingly across his calf.
"It's okay," she said softly. "I've looked at Jack's aura. He's good."
Sighing, Stefan thought about all the ways that someone could be a good person and still want to kill vampires. Still, he had to trust Elena: Her instincts about people had always been sound, even before her Guardian Powers were awakened. "You haven't answered the question," he said to Jack, keeping his voice polite. "How did you know the car was going to explode?"
"My team-there are quite a few of us in town now-we know how powerful Elena's blood is, that it's the only real threat to the Old Ones." Jack's eyes flicked around the group. "When we realized that Solomon was headed for Dalcrest, we assumed he was coming to eliminate Elena. And when I saw Elena's car crash, I felt sure that Solomon was involved. It seemed smartest for her to get away from the car."