Chapter 23 - The Blood Pact

• Damon
• The night is heavy, charged with the electric tension that precedes a storm. The moon is high in the sky, its pale glow reflected on the black surface of the lake. I stand at the water's edge, my hands shoved into the pockets of my leather coat.
• The wind rushes through my hair, lifting the dark strands that frame my face. My gaze is fixed on the shifting reflections of the lake, but my thoughts are elsewhere. They're with Alina. Her taste is still on my lips, her scent impregnated into my skin.