That finger…
That ring…
Caroline seemed to realize something. She stared at Gwen, who was smiling with her lips pressed together, eyes widening as she instinctively covered her mouth with both hands.
"Hiss!"
"Yes. It's an engagement ring."
Gwen smiled and spread her fingers for a full, 360-degree, no-dead-angle display of the six-carat violet diamond on her hand.
"Pretty, right?"
"Gorgeous."
Caroline breathed in awe, then looked back at Gwen. "But when did this happen? Mom and Grandpa never told me. Who is he—what's his name, what does he do?"
Gwen's smile deepened. She was just about to answer when she caught, in the corner of her eye, Hawk stepping out of the upstairs study.
Caroline followed Gwen's gaze up.
Their eyes met.
Caroline's pupils tightened at once.
It wasn't because Hawk was handsome.
Or because he was well-built.
It was because—
She hadn't noticed there was a second person in that study a moment ago.
Her time as a vampire had been short, but she was quick, and she'd already learned how to rein in the bloodlust, control her sudden strength, and manage the now razor-sharp five senses.
Yet those sharpened senses had not told her there was someone else in that room.
Then again—
If she had sensed him, that would've been the strange thing.
Put it this way:
If she could detect Hawk, it wouldn't mean she'd grown stronger; it would mean he'd gotten sloppy.
Hawk took in the change in Caroline's eyes but gave nothing away.
Same as ever:
He was here to visit Gwen's grandfather and take a quiet vacation—not to play at "wolf in sheep's clothing."
"Caroline, let me introduce you."
"Hawk… my fiancé."
"Hawk, this is my cousin, Caroline Forbes."
"Hi."
Hawk smiled and offered his right hand.
Caroline steadied herself, took the hand, and gave it a quick shake. "Hi."
Hawk smiled again, then chose not to intrude on the cousins' reunion. Retrieving his hand, he said to Gwen, "I'll take a walk around the grounds. You two catch up."
Gwen hummed in acknowledgment. Watching Hawk head for the door, she called after him, "Be careful."
She remembered what Hawk had said about vampires in Mystic Falls.
New York had them too, sure—but New York was huge, and S.H.I.E.L.D. watched it like a hawk.
Mystic Falls was small.
And while Hawk wouldn't fear a single vampire—or even a whole coven—her reminder and his invulnerability were different matters.
Without looking back, Hawk lifted a hand and waved, then stepped out of the manor.
Caroline watched his retreating figure, brows knitting again.
For a second time—
Her heightened senses couldn't hear a heartbeat, smell a blood-scent, or feel fear coming off him.
As if the man feared nothing.
But he wasn't a vampire.
When they'd shaken hands, she'd clearly felt warmth in his palm—the pulse, the surging blood like a tide, and a heart thudding with the vigor of a newborn cosmos.
Yet once he moved away, her senses lost him completely.
This man…
Had something off about him.
Gwen, seeing her cousin staring after her fiancé, waved a hand in front of Caroline's face.
"Hey."
"Sorry."
Caroline snapped back and looked at Gwen. "Your fiancé is very handsome. How did you two meet?"
Gwen gave her a sidelong glance and smiled. "Not telling."
Caroline got the message, hugged Gwen's arm, and swayed it, her voice turning sugary.
"Cousin—"
Whoosh!
The instant Hawk turned right after leaving the manor, his figure vanished from where he stood. When he reappeared, he was already deep in the woods, looking at a male vampire whose pupils were, to him, turning toward shock in slow motion. Hawk's mouth tilted.
"Hello."
"…"
Damon Salvatore stared at the man who had appeared without a sound, a jolt shooting through him. Like a wraith, he blurred, trying to leave at once.
He succeeded.
The moment Hawk spoke, Damon became an afterimage, streaking into the forest.
But—
By the time he'd put the Forbes estate out of sight and paused to make sense of what in the world he'd just witnessed, Hawk's voice sounded behind him again.
"Too slow."
"…Whoosh!"
Every hair on Damon's body stood on end. His long-silent heart gave the faintest tremor.
He didn't hesitate. He spun, ghost-fast, right hand lashing out to rip the man's heart free.
Result—
Boom, boom, boom—
Damon was launched skyward in an instant, hurled backward like a shell. Towering trees that had stood for who-knew-how-many years cracked one after another under the impacts. Only when he slammed into the fifth did his pallid cheeks flush, a mouthful of dark blood spraying out as he dropped to the damp earth.
Hands in his pockets, Hawk appeared before him again, face calm as he looked down at the vampire who'd just coughed blood against the trunk.
"Name."
"…Who are you?"
Feeling, in a single exchange, the gulf between their strengths, Damon was shaken. A recent memory surfaced—something his ex had said before he and his brother sealed her in a tomb. He looked up at the man looming over him. "Klaus?"
Hawk chuckled. "I'm not a vampire."
The difference in leagues here was… generous. And a vampire trying to stick that label on him?
Please.
Studying the vaguely familiar face, Hawk lifted his eyes toward the Forbes estate.
In that instant—
The flagging Damon Salvatore bolted at full speed, a sharp whisper of air as he shot downhill toward town.
Still too slow.
At least in Hawk's eyes.
But—
As crimson gleamed in Hawk's gaze, an idea flickered. He paused, the Phoenix Beam receding.
He'd come out here for a simple reason:
This vampire had been lurking by his doorstep.
There's a saying—
No snoring beside my pillow.
Under his six-sense field, he'd noticed Caroline approaching—and also noticed the vampire who'd sprinted after her to this side of the property.
Anyone would think "stalker."
And that would not do.
Only, just now, Hawk remembered exactly who this familiar vampire was.
One of the famous Salvatore brothers—Damon.
Damon and his brother Stefan were… characters.
Put it this way:
They'd shared the same ex.
Hawk had intended to give the apparent tail a lesson.
He'd just arrived, and already a vampire had eyes on him. If he didn't respond firmly, those hiding in the dark might start to think he'd gone soft.
But clearly Damon wasn't that kind of threat.
He'd likely followed Gwen's cousin, Caroline.
Whatever his purpose, it didn't seem to be stalking Hawk or his fiancée.
Which was why Hawk let him go.
With that thought, Hawk withdrew his gaze from the still-within-range vampire and vanished from the spot.
Gwen was by the car, looking around for him.
"Hawk!"
"Here."
Hawk appeared behind her.
At the sound, Gwen turned. As she opened her mouth, her nose crinkled. She leaned in and sniffed, then looked up at him.
"Blood?"
"Not mine."
"Whose?"
"A vampire's."
"Hiss!"
Gwen sucked in a breath and glanced around. "Where? What did he want?"
Seeing her trying to get her bearings, Hawk let out a laugh.
"He ran."
"Ran?"
Gwen eyed him, dubious. "You let him slip?"
Hawk grinned.
"If I wanted him dead, he wouldn't be breathing."
"Then…"
"Thought he was tailing us. Turned out it was a misunderstanding, so I let him go. Didn't you say I should try to be kind?"
Which, indeed, was something Gwen had told him.
She smiled faintly at that.
Hawk shifted the topic. "Your cousin's still inside. Why'd you come out—are you two done catching up?"
Gwen blinked, then handed him her phone. "Almost forgot—Natasha just called. I came out to find you. She says she has something to tell you. Call her back. I'm going to find my cousin—we're not finished."
She'd been recounting a slightly polished version of how she and Hawk met, connected, and committed when the call came in.
That was why she'd suddenly run out mid-chat.
Now that she'd found him, Gwen waved and headed back into the main house to continue.
Standing by the car, Hawk watched her go, then lifted the already-connected phone to his ear.
"Hello."
"Hawk, Merrick's bodywork results are back."
"How is it?"
"Every data point matches the records from when we previously detained Merrick."
"From a scientific standpoint, he is Merrick."
"The real Merrick."
"…"
(End of Chapter)
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