The Devil In Me

Chapter 10

When the carriage rattled into Shrewsbury, Rebekah started to feel as though she had been born in the damn contraption, so dim was the memory of solid ground under her feet.

They had barely stopped , only to change horses and the constant travel was wearing her to the bone. She guessed Elena must feel the same, but she was so too saintly to complain. Rebekah on the other hand had no problem.

"Mr Salvatore. I insist that we rest the night here. This is preposterous. My brother is not going to be coming after us." she said with a sigh, as she stepped to the door of the finally motionless carriage. As she made it to the first step, her underused legs suddenly buckled and she went flying forward, stopped short by a sudden impact with Damon's chest as he caught her under the arms. Her breath flew out of her as he slowly lowered her to the ground, and she looked up at his grin.

"Do not suppose for one moment that saving me from falling flat in my face forgives you for forcing us to travel night and day in that horrible box" she said, flicking his hands off her disdainfully. Damon bit back his smile, and bowed in mock seriousness before her,

"Of course Lady Rebekah, rest assured that next time I shall not bother." he said, and laughed as she smacked him hard on the chest. As Stefan helped Elena down from the carriage, Rebekah turned purposefully toward the inn they were outside. It was small and quaint, with charming brickwork and painted wood. The courtyard was quiet busy with other carriages, stable hands caring for the horses and such. Rebekah strode across the slick cobbles. Damon appeared at her side,

"Allow me to speak to the innkeeper" he said, and received only a scornful glance as she strode on.

"Lady Rebekah, do you not think it wiser for me to make arrangements for us? It might look odd for a woman to be holding the purse strings in a party containing men." he said, again hiding his smile, as he knew the effect his words would have.

Stopping, she whirled to face him, about to tell him exactly what she thought of his wise suggestion, when she saw several stable hands in the yard looking at them. Forcing a smile, she turned her voice as sugary sweet as possible.

"Why yes, dear brother, I guess that would be best." and dropped the heavy purse of coins at his feet. Storming ahead, she tried to ignore his chuckle.

"Lady Rebekah does punish Damon something awful, doesn't she?" Elena said as she took Stefan's arm over the slippery ground.

"Nothing more than he deserves, I am sure" Stefan said lightly, watching Elena carefully, ready to catch her if she fell. He had come this far, and defied this many people.. her safety was in his hands. The enormity of what they had done, and where they were going was almost overwhelming, but as she looked up at him, when her foot slipped and his arm steadied her, he knew he would do it again one hundred times over.

His only worry was the state of affairs they had left at home.

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The common room was loud and crowded, and Rebekah pressed herself against a rough wooden beam to avoid a couple kissing on a bench. Inching around them, she found a table that looked relatively clean, and was thankfully empty, and sat at it, looking around her for a server of some sort.

"I thought I asked you to wait for me to escort you" Damon's voice veiled his anger at her venturing into a public common room alone, as he slipping into the chair opposite her.

"Well, I was hungry, and I grew tired of waiting for you. It really is shameful when a man's toilette takes longer than a lady's" she said sweetly, turning her attention to the serving girl as she rushed over and plonked two overspilling plates in front of them. Her smile soon vanished as she inspected the food.