Caroline looked instinctively at Elena.
Elena, too, pictured Hawk—the man she'd just seen inside the manor.
Only Stefan, who hadn't gone in, was lost as he listened to the two of them.
"Who are you talking about?"
"Hawk."
Caroline glanced at Stefan, then seemed to think of something. "My cousin's fiancé. Stefan, can you sense him?"
At that, Stefan turned his attention toward the Forbes estate.
He picked up Sheriff Liz Forbes, who'd just gone inside. He sensed an unfamiliar female presence—that had to be Caroline's cousin from New York.
He even noticed household staff moving about, and William Forbes waking under a maid's care.
Beyond that…
Nothing.
Stefan drew his gaze back and looked at Caroline.
Meeting his eyes, Caroline knew what he was about to say and spoke first, her face solemn. "He's in there."
Stefan's pupils tightened.
Now it was Elena's turn to be confused.
She stared between them, baffled. "Wait—what are you two even saying? 'He's in there' means what?"
Stefan told his girlfriend, with a grave expression, that he couldn't sense Hawk at all.
Elena frowned.
"So what does that mean?"
"His life level is above ours."
Stefan's voice was low, serious.
Not just above vampires—above the entire spectrum of supernaturals.
A fundamental difference in the tier of life.
The only way Stefan would fail to sense him was if Hawk's life level stood beyond the supernatural.
Hawk wasn't merely supernatural—he was beyond it.
Hearing that, Elena looked from her boyfriend's grim face to Caroline's, then recalled Damon, covered in blood, moments earlier. She sucked in a breath. "What's your cousin's fiancé's background?"
Caroline shook her head.
Stefan cut in, voice firm. "Whatever he is, the point is why he hit Damon. Damon said if he hadn't run, he might not have made it back."
Yes, Damon did bad things.
Yes, Damon had designs on his girlfriend.
But he was still Stefan's brother.
His actual brother.
Whatever Damon's faults, Stefan could not allow an outsider to bully him.
Elena suddenly remembered the look Hawk had given her when she entered with Sheriff Forbes. Brow creasing, she said, "You don't think he came because of Katherine?"
Stefan and Caroline both glanced at her.
Elena took a long breath and explained what she'd seen when Hawk looked at her: "His eyes were confused for a moment… then suddenly like he'd figured something out. As if he thought I shouldn't be here—and then realized I wasn't who he'd assumed."
People did mistake her, often.
After all, there was someone else who looked exactly like her—
Katherine Pierce.
A five-hundred-year-old vampire who was the spitting image of Elena—and the former lover of both Stefan and Damon.
Stefan's face tightened. "Katherine's been wandering for centuries. It's possible."
Caroline's eyes flew wide.
"You're saying my cousin's fiancé might also be one of Katherine's exes from out there?"
Pfft.
Inside the manor, Hawk—sitting with Gwen and chatting with Aunt Liz—couldn't help a chuckle at the trio's wild speculation outside.
Gwen and Aunt Liz both paused and looked over.
Gwen tilted her head at him, blinking.
Liz watched with a polite smile.
Thinking fast, Hawk glanced at Liz. "Sorry. I just remembered—on the way in, Gwen tried to spook me with talk of vampires in town."
The sheriff's smile paused for a split second, then she smoothed it over and turned to Gwen, adopting a mildly stern tone. "Gwen, Mystic Falls runs on tourism—it's your hometown. Don't say things like that."
Gwen opened her mouth, glanced at Hawk, then looked back at her aunt.
"Sorry. I was teasing Hawk."
"Don't mind her," Liz added to Hawk with an easy smile. "Vampires? We believe in science here."
Hawk nodded. "Of course, Aunt Liz."
Just then,
Caroline came back in.
After a brisk little huddle outside, the three had landed on a conclusion that, to the man in question, was downright fanciful:
Hawk—possibly one of Katherine's old boyfriends.
So—
They'd decided Caroline, using her family connection, would probe for why Hawk had come to Mystic Falls now—and what, exactly, he was.
Caroline stepped in, smiled, tossed out a casual "What are we chatting about?" and sat naturally beside her mother.
Liz gave her daughter a look and, in a joking tone, said, "Hawk claims your cousin scared him about vampires on the way into town."
Caroline's heart skipped, but she settled at once.
"Haha—vampires, right. Cousin, how could you say that? If tourists believed it, who'd dare visit? Our town would be doomed."
"My bad," Gwen said with a helpless smile, taking the blame again.
Caroline promptly changed the subject. "By the way, Cousin—Grandpa said you two plan to spend Christmas here?"
Gwen nodded. "Yeah. We'll head back to New York after Christmas—wanted to be here for the holiday with Grandpa."
Liz smiled. "Good. He's been so happy for you since the engagement—he's talked about flying up to see you more than once."
Gwen blinked. "Mom didn't tell me that."
"Well—"
Liz glanced toward the staircase as someone came down, then smiled. "Here he is. Ask him yourself."
William, looking fresher after his nap, ambled over with a genial laugh. "Ask me what? Oh—Hawk, did you see the photographs? How were they?"
Facing William's cheerful expression, Hawk answered with crisp sincerity. "Exactly my taste."
William burst out laughing and pointed at Hawk, turning to Gwen. "I like him."
Before that line, William had thought well of Hawk. After it, he was a hundred percent satisfied.
Shared values.
That was also why he'd never moved into town.
He had little patience for how the place had changed over the years; the old planter's pride ran deep, and he preferred his peace out here on the estate.
Which, of course, was why Aunt Liz didn't push him to relocate.
Gwen, hearing her fiancé and grandfather lay out their views so unabashedly, could only twitch a smile.
Liz, too, froze a moment, then seemed to recall something and shook her head, exasperated.
Caroline, meanwhile, was still catching up. She looked at her mother. "What photos?"
"Old Forbes family photos," Liz said lightly. As sheriff, there were things she could understand without saying aloud.
Gwen, after a wry tug at her lip, told her grandfather, "He was nervous about meeting you, Grandpa—but when I said you kept all those photos, he stopped being nervous and started counting down the hours."
William's laugh grew even heartier. He looked at Hawk. "Want to see the family vault?"
Hawk's eyes lit. "Absolutely."
Gwen had told him: if the study documented the Forbes' storied past, the vault held the artifacts from it.
Once, those trophies could be displayed openly, as a warning to anyone thinking of rebelling or running.
Today, only William had the key. Without his say-so, not even Helen or Liz could enter.
And now he was inviting Hawk.
Naturally, Hawk accepted without hesitation.
Gwen piped up at once. "Grandpa, Caroline and I have never been allowed in. Could we come this time?"
William shook his head. "No. Just Hawk. Come—let me show you the Forbes legacy."
Hawk rose, shot Gwen an apologetic look, and followed William toward the manor's annex.
Soon,
once they'd gone,
Liz drew her gaze back and, after a beat, spoke to Gwen in a low voice. "New York is a big city, but times have changed everywhere. Some viewpoints… keep them private. Don't say them out loud."
Gwen nodded, smiling. "I know, Aunt Liz. I'll keep an eye on him."
Caroline also realized, a moment late, what her grandfather and cousin's fiancé had been bonding over.
The Forbes family's history.
To put it another way—
A hard, bloody chapter of the old South.
…
(End of Chapter)
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