She looked up in astonishment, her gaze fixed on the violent madness twisting his features. Forcing a smile, she stepped forward and reached for his arm. "Damon, what's wrong?"
But at that moment, Damon wanted nothing to do with her.
He shoved her away violently, snarling,
"Go away!"
Lydia lost her balance and crashed to the floor.
The phone she was holding slipped from her grasp, sliding across the floor to stop at Damon's feet.
He intended to ignore it.
But just then, Lydia's phone rang.
The string of numbers on the screen slammed into Damon's vision.
Lydia instinctively lunged for it.
"Don't!"
But with lightning-fast reflexes, Damon grabbed the phone.
He pressed the answer button without a word. The same older, hoarse male voice from before came through the speaker, sounding so panicked that it trembled: