Damon's Pov
It started at the base of my neck and moved downward fast, searing and deep, like something was crawling through my veins with heat attached to every movement, and I bent forward over her involuntarily with the force of it, one palm slamming flat to the floor to catch myself, a groan tearing out of me that I could not hold back.
My whole upper body locked up and I couldn't straighten for a moment, the pain just sitting on my spine like a physical weight pressing down, and I heard myself make a sound I had not made since I was a boy and I did not care.
Rika walked in.
The bottle of water in his hand hit the floor and shattered across the tile before he even got through the doorway. He stood there in his grey shirt and dark sweats, his eyes moving from me to Sloane and back
