Phantom by L. J. Smith Page A

was sure of it, and she reached deeper into his mind as their kisses intensified. She needed all of him. . . . She started to pull back her hair, to offer him her blood. That always brought them as close as they could possibly be.
    But before he could accept her offer, there was a sudden knock on the door.
    Almost immediately it opened and Aunt Judith peeked in. Elena, blinking, found herself alone, her palms stinging from the speed with which Stefan had pulled away from her. She looked around hastily, but he’d vanished.
    “Breakfast is on the table, Elena,” Aunt Judith said cheerfully.
    “Uh-huh,” Elena said, distracted, peering at the closet, wondering where Stefan had hidden himself.
    “Are you all right, dear?” her aunt said, her forehead creased with concern. Elena had a sudden picture of how she must look: wide-eyed, flushed, and disheveled, sitting in her rumpled bed and looking wildly around the room. It had been a long time since Stefan had needed to use his vampiric speed for anything as mundane as not getting caught in her bedroom!
    She gave Aunt Judith a reassuring smile. “Sorry, I’m still half-asleep. I’ll be right down,” she said. “I’d better hurry. Stefan will be here to pick me up soon.”
    As Aunt Judith left the room, Elena finally caught sight of Stefan, waving from the lawn below her open window, and she waved back, laughing, the strange emotions at the bottom of Stefan’s mind put aside for the moment. He gestured that he was going around to the front of the house and that he would see her in a minute.
    She laughed again and jumped up to get ready for the picnic at Hot Springs. It was nice to be the kind of girl who worried about getting grounded. It felt . . . pleasurably normal.
    A few minutes later, as Elena, now dressed in shorts and a light blue T-shirt, her hair pulled back in a ponytail, headed down the stairs, the doorbell rang.
    “That’ll be Stefan,” she called as Aunt Judith appeared in the kitchen doorway. Elena grabbed her beach bag and picnic cooler from the bench in the hall.
    “Elena!” Aunt Judith scolded. “You have to eat something before you go!”
    “No time,” Elena said, smiling at the familiarity of the argument. “I’ll grab a muffin or something on the way.” She and Aunt Judith had exchanged these words, or similar ones, most mornings of Elena’s years in high school.
    “Oh, Elena,” Aunt Judith said, rolling her eyes. “Don’t move, young lady. I’ll be right back.”
    Elena opened the door and smiled up into Stefan’s eyes. “Why, hello there, stranger,” she said softly. He kissed her, a sweet touch of his lips on hers.
    Aunt Judith hurried back into the hallway and pressed a granola bar into Elena’s hand. “There,” she said. “At least you’ll have something in your stomach.”
    Elena gave her a quick hug. “Thank you, Aunt Judith,” she said. “I’ll see you later.”
    “Have fun, but please don’t forget Margaret’s dance recital tonight,” Aunt Judith said. “She’s so excited about it.” Aunt Judith waved good-bye from the doorway as Elena and Stefan strolled toward the car.
    “We’re meeting the others at the boardinghouse and caravanning to Hot Springs,” Stefan said. “Matt and Meredith are both bringing their cars.”
    “Oh, good, we won’t be as crowded as we were yesterday. Not that I minded sitting on your lap, but I thought I might squish Celia in the middle,” Elena said. She turned her face up and stretched like a cat in the sunshine. A breeze tossed her ponytail, and she closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensation. “It’s a gorgeous day for a picnic,” she said. The world was alive with birdsong and with the rustle of trees. A faint tracery of white clouds underscored the bright blue of the sky. “Would it be jinxing ourselves to say it feels like the kind of day where nothing could go wrong?” she asked.
    “Yes, it absolutely would be jinxing ourselves to say that,” Stefan said,