"I'm not worried about me," Echo replied.
Damon was taken aback. He took a step back from her with a mixture of anger and confusion displayed on his face.
"What?"
"I'm not worried about me Damon. I'm worried about you."
Damon raised his eyebrows as she continued to explain.
"What if the demons won't take you back as we expect them to? We'll have to…"
"Echo!" Damon interrupted her with a smile. He held her hands in his.
Echo felt her heart stop when she saw his smile. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she forgot to notice the tiny things that matter. She tilted her head as she listened to his sweet words.
"No matter what happens out there… or anywhere. I'll always be with you. I'll always come back to you," he paused as he gently caressed her cheek. "And most importantly I'll always keep you safe."
Echo cheeks turned red. He was making her heart flutter. The words he said resided right in her heart. She moved closer to him and tiptoed to give him a kiss. She closed her eyes when she was a few millimetres away from his lips.
*Knock Knock*
Damon sighed. He glared at the ceiling as Echo moved aside and walked to the door.
Echo was slightly annoyed as well, but she just shrugged it off, and opened the door.
Sebastian stood outside. He casually stepped into the house without a single word.
Damon glared at him asking, "What do you want?"
"The commander filled me in on the plan. I thought of training Echo a little before the two of you head out tomorrow," Sebastian replied. He glanced at Echo, and then at Damon, fully ignoring his glare.
Damon raised his eyebrow "Why do you need to train her? Hasn't she been trained by the witches?"
Echo turned her gaze to Damon. She did not want to get involved in the conversation, but she too was curious. Why did Sebastian want to train her all of a sudden? She had defeated him in a one-to-one duel. What more was there to learn from him?
Sebastian sighed, as he crossed his hands on his chest. He gave the most stoic expression as he replied, "So naive. No amount of training is ever enough!"
—
After training the whole day, Echo was exhausted. She could not even think clearly, as she plopped down on the bed and fell asleep. Damon tried to make her feel as comfortable as possible, but he felt bad when he saw her exhausted and asleep.
Damon sighed as he laid down on his bed. He had so many thoughts running in his mind. How would the commander's plan go? Would everything be okay once they left? Will the other demons hurt Echo? He was stuck on that last thought. He wished he could just rip that thought out of his head.
A few hours passed, and he too eventually fell asleep.
—
Echo woke up to a knock on her door. Sighing, she sat on the bed, and took a quick glance at the clock.
'So it's finally here,' she thought, as she got up from the bed. She was not ready to leave, but since when did life wait for anyone? Lazily walking to the door, she checked on Hunter, and then got dressed.
Using her spell to change her outfit, she knocked on Damon's room door. He opened the door, shocking her.
"Are you ready?" Damon asked, after a while of silence.
Echo turned her face away from him. She was not ready. Who would be ready to leave the safety of their house, and walk into the wolf's lair? She sighed, and nodded her head.
"Hunter! Let's go," Echo called out, as she stepped towards the front door. She let Hunter and Damon out, and then stopped to look back into her house.
This was the third time that she was leaving her house. First when she died, and moved into the Witches Coven. Second when she left the coven to live in her current home. Now she had to leave again. Each time she left, the feeling was the same. Her heart hurt, and she wanted to stop time itself. What a curse it was?
Trying to stop all the negative feelings, she shut the door. Would she ever come back? That was a question she did not have an answer to.
Damon noticed the drastic change in Echo. She was silent on the lift, and distant. He felt bad for her. He knew she must have felt horrible having to leave her safe place once again. Even in the past, she hated major changes, but this life was ever changing.
Not knowing what else to do, Damon held Echo's hand, while they walked to the briefing room, with Hunter in tow.
Echo's heart eased at Damon's touch. She glanced at him, and he reassured her with a smile.
Echo pushed the door, and walked into the briefing room. The commander, and Sebastian were standing near the large table, with unreadable expressions.
"About time you showed up," Sebastian stated, acknowledging Echo, and Damon. He continued, "I thought you didn't hear the knock."
Damon scoffed, "I bet the whole mansion heard that loud knock."
Echo ignored the banter, and stared at the commander expecting him to say something.
"You'll leave through the portal," the commander explained, without any informalities, "No one knows about this, except for the few of us in the room."
"So everyone here thinks that I actually kidnapped her?" Damon asked, without missing a beat.
The commander leaned on the table. He nodded.
"Not even Jane and Jasmine?" Echo asked.
The commander sighed. He looked agitated, as his brows creased ever so lightly. "If they knew about this, they wouldn't let it happen. So for the time being… I won't tell them anything."
Sebastian stepped forward, "Are you guys ready? We need to make the story believable."
"Sebs right. Whatever happens don't trust anyone, except each other." The commander stood up, and walked to Damon, "I'm trusting you. I hope you don't mess this up."
"I won't."
The commander nodded, and turned to Echo, "You've got this right?"
"Yes, commander," Echo replied. She stared at her sword, and handed it over to Damon. "Take great care of it, and if you ever need to block magic… you know how to use it."
Damon nodded, taking the sword from her. He watched as Echo cut a short strand of her hair, and gave it to Sebastian.
"What is this?" Damon asked, with a glare.