Damon's POV
She knows.
No matter how much I try to hide it—no matter how carefully I tilt my head to keep the light away from the spot where the horn had broken through—Elena knows.
I can smell it on her.
Fear. Sharp and cold, laced beneath the scent of her skin.
It clung to her like a veil the moment she stepped back from me in the bathroom, her eyes darting from my reflection in the mirror back to me. I didn't have to look to confirm it. I saw it in the way her breathing changed—ragged, uneven, as though she'd seen something she wasn't supposed to.
And she had.
The bastard had done it again.
You took too long, Hades' voice slithered through my mind, silk and smoke. She doubts you now. You should have marked her when you had the chance.
I clenched my fists at my sides, my jaw ticking. "I told you not to manifest when she's with me."
