Chapter 16
Elena's POV
By the time I made it downstairs, a small crowd had gathered. Not obvious—people pretending to check their phones or adjust their bags—but I could feel the attention. The whispers.
"Is that Damon Vance?"
"Oh my God, he's so hot."
"Wait, isn't that Elena's boyfriend?"
I pushed through the glass doors. The cold air hit me like a slap.
Damon straightened when he saw me, his face lighting up with that trademark smile. "There you are. Listen, about yesterday—"
"I told you I'm busy."
His smile faltered. "Elena, it's just breakfast."
"I don't want to go to breakfast with you."
The words hung in the air between us. Around us, the murmurs got louder. I could feel eyes on my back.
Damon's expression shifted—confusion, then something harder. His pheromones spiked, a brief flash of irritation quickly smoothed over. "Okay. Fine. But we should still talk. About yesterday. Scarlett didn't mean—"
"I need you to stop coming to my school."
He blinked. "What?"
"This." I gestured between us, then at the car. "This isn't appropriate. You have a girlfriend. I don't want my classmates getting the wrong idea."
For a long moment, he just stared at me. Like he was waiting for the punchline. When it didn't come, something flickered across his face—disbelief, maybe. Or the beginning of anger.
"You're serious."
"Yes."
"Elena—"
Lila's voice cut through the tension like a knife. She jogged up beside me, ponytail swinging, cheeks flushed from running.
She looked straight at me, completely ignoring Damon's existence. "Ready for the library? We need to grab seats before they're all taken."
She hooked her arm through mine.
Damon's jaw tightened. "Lila."
She finally turned to look at him, her expression flat. "Oh. You're still here."
"Do you have something to say to me?"
"Actually?" Lila tilted her head. "Yeah. I've got a lot to say. Want me to start with the big stuff or the small stuff?"
The air got heavier. I could feel Damon's pheromones pressing down, trying to intimidate. But Lila was human. She couldn't sense any of it.
Which made her fearless.
"Lila," I tried. "Let's just go—"
"No." She shook her head. "You know what? Let's talk about how many guys you've scared off over the years, Damon. Because I've been keeping count."
His face went carefully blank. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Really? The senior from freshman year who wanted to take Elena to the coffee shop. The guy from the debate club who gave her a book. That kid from the film society—oh wait."
Damon's hands curled into fists. "Those guys were—"
"What? Not good enough? Not rich enough? Not you enough?"
"I was protecting her!"
"From what?" Lila's voice rose. "From having a normal college experience? From meeting people who might actually treat her like a person instead of a—a backup plan?"
"That's not—" Damon's voice cracked. He looked at me, something desperate creeping into his expression. "Elena, that's not what I was doing. I just didn't want you getting hurt by guys who—"
"Oh, spare me." Lila stepped forward, putting herself between us. "You didn't want her to find someone else. That's what this is about. You want her to wait around while you screw your way through Saint-Helier, and then when you're done playing, she's supposed to still be there. Grateful. Available."
"She won't like anyone else!" The words burst out of him, raw and angry.
Lila shot back. "Jesus Christ, Damon. She's not your property. She gets to choose."
The crowd around us had grown. I could see phones coming out. This was going to be all over campus by tonight.
I felt uneasy and restless.
Damon was breathing hard, his pheromones going haywire—anger and possessiveness and something almost like fear. His eyes found mine.
"Tell her," he said. Voice low, almost pleading. "Tell her you don't have anyone."
The world got very quiet.
I could feel my heartbeat in my throat. Could feel Lila's hand tight on my arm. Could feel the weight of every single person watching us, waiting for my answer.
I took a breath. Let it out slow.
"I have someone I like."
---
The silence that followed was absolute.
Damon's face went completely still. His eyes were wide, pupils blown, like I'd just spoken a language he didn't understand.
"What?"
"I said—"
"No." He shook his head. "No, you—that's not—you don't—"
"I do."
His mouth opened. Closed. Opened again. "Since when?"
"Does it matter?"
"Of course it fucking matters!" The curse came out strangled. His pheromones spiked hard enough that even humans nearby flinched, their hindbrain instincts screaming danger. "You never said anything. You never—if someone was bothering you, if someone was—"
"Bothering me?" I felt something cold settle in my chest. "Is that what you think this is?"
"I—" He ran a hand through his hair, pacing. "You're lying. You're just trying to—this is about yesterday, isn't it? About Scarlett. You're angry, so you're—"
"I'm not angry," I said quietly.
He stopped. Looked at me. Really looked.
Whatever he saw in my face made his expression crumble.
"Elena—"
"You hid Scarlett from me," I said. My voice stayed calm. Steady. "You never told me about her. I had to figure it out myself. So why do I owe you an explanation about my life?"
Lila's hand gripped my wrist tight. She dragged me through the glass doors into the stairwell. The fire door slammed shut behind us, cutting off the whispers outside.
Damon was still standing by that goddamn car.
"Elena!" Lila spun to face me, eyes bright with adrenaline. "You were amazing! Did you see his face? He looked like—"
I slid down the cold concrete wall. Not from fear. Something deeper was collapsing inside me.
Empty. That's what I felt.
"Hey, hey—" Lila crouched beside me, palm pressed to my shoulder. "You okay?"
I opened my mouth. Nothing came out.
Memories started flashing through my head like broken glass:
Eight years old, sitting in Cross Manor's living room. Mother and Father screaming at each other. Mother slamming the door. Me, crying, terrified.
"Go to Blackwood Manor," the housekeeper said. "Go play with young Master Damon."
So I went. Again and again. Every time home suffocated me, I ran to him.
He was my safe place. I thought we had something special.
I closed my eyes, chest tight.
I was so fucking stupid.
Damon never saw me. I was just... convenient. Always there. Always obedient. Always waiting.
A thing he owned without ever claiming.