Ethan’s eyes widened and then narrowed fiercely in anger. “I don’t know who the hell you think you are, but that is my sister!”
“I’m telling you right now to get away from her!” he nearly roared.
Mike jumped forward, grabbing hold of Ethan’s arm and ripping him back. “Get your hands off of me!” Ethan snapped at him.
“Go get your parents, now!” Mike ordered.
“But...”
“Now!”
“I’m not going anywhere!” Ethan yelled. “Until I know what happened, and he gets his hands off of my sister!”
Stefan’s eyes burned red with fury as he glowered at Ethan. Ethan’s eyes flashed red as he took a step forward. Stefan hissed and lunged forward. Seizing hold of Ethan’s throat, he lifted him easily off of the ground. Ethan struggled in his grasp, his hands clutching wildly at Stefan as he dug into Ethan’s throat. “Shit Stefan, no!” David yelled moving swiftly forward to stand in front of him, but making no move to stop him. “Isabelle will hate you if you hurt him!”
Stefan was struggling wildly against losing complete control as bloodlust, and fury, raged through him. David’s words slowly managed to penetrate the wild frenzy growing within him. Isabelle would hate him if he hurt Ethan. It was that thought alone that enabled him to shove the killing frenzy aside and release his hold on Ethan’s neck. He hit the ground, stumbling back, his eyes flashing with rage as his hand flew to his bruised throat. David grabbed hold of Ethan’s arm, shoving him forcefully to the side as Mike grabbed hold of the other one.
“Get your parents,” David hissed.
“Neither of us is going anywhere.” Ian said forcefully.
“You need to get your parents, now!” Mike shouted, shoving them both toward the door.
“Mike...”
“Go!” David bellowed.
Stefan moved swiftly to the couch, shooting a warning look at Doug as he moved past him. Doug took a quick step back, his gaze focused worriedly on Isabelle as Stefan laid her gently on the couch. Jack came rushing back into the room, a bag of blood clutched tightly in his hand. He skidded to a halt next to Doug, his gaze flickering quickly to Isabelle, and then apprehensively back to Stefan. Anger shot through him at the thought of Jack feeding her, but Jack made no move toward her as he held the bag out to Stefan.
Stefan stared at him for a moment before snatching the bag out of his hand and ripping it open with his teeth. They both took a step back as David and Mike came slowly forward. Stefan lifted her head cautiously, opening her lips gently to place the bag against them. She moaned softly, her eyelids twitching as she opened her mouth to receive it.
Relief flooded through him as he gently stroked her hair and continued to slowly feed her. “Is she going to be okay?” Mike asked softly.
“Yes,” he growled.
He was a little wary that they would attack him for what he had done to Ethan, but he knew that he could destroy them if they even attempted it. He was not going to leave Isabelle alone with them. It did not matter to him that they were like her brothers, or that he had attacked first, he was not going to allow any of them near her until he knew that she was completely safe.
However, as they made no move to come near him, no move to take her away from him, his wariness quickly turned to confusion. Why weren’t they attacking him? Surely they would, if they thought that he would harm Isabelle, or them. Instead, they stood silently, accepting the fact that he had assumed control over her, and that he had attacked one of them.
From everything that he had seen over the past week, any of them would willingly die for one of the others. He didn’t understand their silent acceptance of the fact that he had come damn close to killing Ethan. It made absolutely no sense to him. What was the matter with them? Why were they taking this so well? And what the hell did they know that he didn’t? His jaw clenched as a million questions raced through his head, but then Isabelle moaned softly and all thought fled as he focused his attention solely on her.
“What the hell happened?” David demanded.
Stefan lifted his head, his eyes flashing dangerously, as his jaw clenched. Their eyes widened slightly as they stared at him, but none of them said anything, and the looks on their faces were ones of awe. “I’ll tell you later,” Jack said quickly.
Stefan searched their faces, but he didn’t much care what they thought. His attention returned to Isabelle as the last of the blood slid slowly down her throat. He tossed the bag aside, lifted her head gently, and slid onto the couch. He laid her head in his lap, gently stroking her soft, pale face. She rolled over, her delicate hand curling tightly into his thigh.
A surge of protectiveness flowed through him as his hand curled into her hair, wanting to get as close to her as possible, needing to keep her safe from the world. From himself. He was even more dangerous than the men that had attacked her, even more deadly. He was especially dangerous now, when his emotions were in a rioting turmoil that felt as if they were going to explode.
The screen door banged open as Sera and Liam came rushing inside. “What happened!?” Sera cried, running forward, terror etched onto her delicate face.
She cast David and Doug a scathing look as they moved to intercept her. She easily darted around them. She fell on her knees before Isabelle, her hand flying out to touch her brow. Tears spilled freely down her face as she stroked her hair back. “Is she okay?” she sobbed.
“She will be,” Stefan grated.
Liam appeared behind her, reaching out to grasp hold of Isabelle’s hand. Stefan instinctively stiffened; a snarl curved his mouth, as he pulled Isabelle tighter against him. Liam’s eyes flashed with fire, a growl escaped him as he ripped Sera backward. “What the hell are you doing?” she demanded angrily, as he shoved her behind him.
“Whoa!” Doug jumped in between them both, his hands held out. “Calm down! Both of you!”
Sera poked her head around Liam, her eyes widened in surprise before she began to laugh. “Liam, move,” she said, shoving at his back.
“No!” he snapped.
Sera laughed harder, drawing glaring looks from both Stefan and Liam. Suddenly, Doug began to chuckle softly, and from behind him, he could hear more muffled laughter. “I think that we should all go into the dining room,” Sera managed to say. “Stefan will take care of Isabelle.”
“I am not leaving my daughter alone with him,” Liam grated.
“Yes, you are,” Sera said firmly. Liam’s eyes slowly changed back to green as he turned to look down at her, an eyebrow raised questioningly as they silently communicated with each other. She nodded briskly as she took hold of his arm, skirting wide of Stefan as she led him away.
“What about Isabelle?” Ethan demanded.
“She’ll be fine,” Doug said.
“But...”
“Ethan trust me, she’ll be fine,” Sera said softly. “Come on.”
Stefan found himself alone with only the dark mass of his twisting emotions for company. For a moment, he had been willing to kill Isabelle’s father simply because he had wanted to touch his daughter. He had almost killed her bother for the same reason. He knew now that there was something seriously wrong with him, that she was causing him to lose all of his control. Hell, he felt like he was going insane.
She moaned softly, burying her head deeper into his lap as his hands tightened convulsively on her. A fierce surge of guardianship seared through him again, but he quickly shoved it aside. He needed to stay cool, and calm. He needed to think. He knew that he had to get away from her before he truly hurt someone, before he caused her even more pain. Before he brought the monster that he had once been down on all of them.
He could easily destroy everyone in this house, and for some reason, Isabelle made the demon in him even fiercer, and wilder, than it had ever been before. If he didn’t get away from her, he would become the one thing that he had truly hated over the years, the one thing that he had fought so savagely against becoming. She deserved much better than a
nything he could ever give her, much better than the dark world of pain and torment that he lived in, and he meant to see that she was never again touched by it. Never again touched by him. He had been selfish in his lust for her, but he knew now that he had been wrong, and he was going to right it.
***
“I cannot believe that you’re leaving her alone with him!” Ethan exploded. “He’s obviously unstable! He was going to kill me! He could kill her!”
“No, he couldn’t,” Sera said softly.
“How do you know that?” Ian yelled.
“Calm down,” Liam said. “He won’t hurt her, he loves her.”
“What!?” Ethan and Ian demanded.
Liam and Sera exchanged an amused look as they turned back to them. “They’re meant to be together,” she said softly. “They’re soul mates.”
Mike, David, Doug, and Jack grinned with amusement as Ethan and Ian started to sputter. “Trust me, we know the signs,” Doug said with a small chuckle.
“What? Total insanity?” Ethan bellowed.
“Yep,” they all said.
They exchanged confused glances. “I don’t understand,” Ethan said wearily.
“You wouldn’t, you didn’t see your father when he first met your mother. When soul mates meet each other they are totally unstable, especially the male, until they have completely branded their mate. Your mother was still human, a vampire cannot have that. They sense the mortality in their mate, and they need to change it, they need to make them a vampire. Your father was so volatile that if we even touched her, he wanted to rip our throats out. If your mother hadn’t changed willingly, he would have forced it on her, no matter what,” David explained.
“Until their relationship is solidified, than Stefan is going to be very unstable,” Mike stated.
Ethan and Ian turned to Liam and Sera, their eyes questioning. “My guess is that neither one of them knows what’s going on yet,” Sera said softly. “And they’re both fighting their feelings.”
“Stefan is the one that told me about you two, he should know.” David’s brow was furrowed in confusion as he studied them.
“Sometimes it’s easier to see something when it isn’t right in front of you. Plus, I know Isabelle, if this isn’t something that she wants, than she is going to fight it every step of the way. For now, just stay away from Isabelle, and don’t touch her when he’s around,” Sera said softly.
“But...”
“I know you don’t like it Ethan,” Liam said. “But you have too. Until they figure out what is going on, and everything stabilizes, you need to stay away from her. He will be volatile, and he won’t mean to be. I know I would snap for no reason. I thought I was going insane. I had no idea what was wrong with me, what was going on, and I would have killed anyone.”
“Threw me across a room,” Doug mumbled.
Ethan and Ian gaped at him in astonishment before turning to look at their father. Liam shrugged as he reached out to pull Sera against him. “If it ever happens to you, trust me, you’ll understand. Something inside of you changes. All rational thought, and all control vanishes, until you know that she is yours. Although, I’m not sure how it works between two vampires, but I suppose it’s similar.”
“They’ll probably need to exchange blood, and...” Mike broke off; a dull flush stained his cheeks as his face twisted in chagrin.
“I don’t want to think about that!” Liam yelled.
Sera bit into her bottom lip to keep from laughing. “Neither do I,” Mike muttered.
“Well I hope they do, whatever it is that they have to do, soon,” Jack said. “It was hard enough dealing with Liam, but if that guy snaps it is not going to be pretty. His powers are a lot stronger than ours. He lifted Ethan like he weighed no more than a twig.”
Ethan smiled sheepishly as he rubbed his bruised neck. “Yeah he did.”
“Should we tell him what’s going on?” Ian asked.
They looked wearily at each other. “I’ll talk to him,” Sera said softly.
“You will not!” Liam snapped, his hands tightening on her.
“He’s not going to hurt me Liam; I was the only one that he let near Isabelle. I don’t think he knows what’s going on, and once I tell him I think he’ll be a lot calmer, and things will start to make more sense to him. Right now, he’s just as confused as you were.”
“I don’t want you anywhere near him.”
Sera sighed impatiently. “I’ll stay on the other side of the room, and you can stand right by my side. He’s not going to hurt me, but someone needs to tell him something, and I’m the least threatening of you all.”
“Fine,” Liam relented. “But you’ll be staying in the kitchen, far away from him.”
Sera smiled happily as she looked at everyone. “I can’t believe that we have to go through this again,” Doug muttered.
“I can’t believe we’re going to have to deal with another sickening couple,” Jack snorted.
“Ugh!” they groaned.
CHAPTER 14
Isabelle knew that he was gone the minute she woke up. A crushing sense of loss descended on her as a dull ache bloomed in her chest. She scrunched her eyes tight as she tried to shove the hurt, and loss, away. It was what she had wanted after all. What she had been longing for since he had arrived. She should be happy that he was gone; she was going to be happy that he was gone. She opened her eyes slowly, blinking against the bright light that filled the living room.
“You’re awake.” She turned to find her mother sitting on the other couch, her hands clasped before her as she worriedly scanned Isabelle’s face. “How do you feel?”
“He’s gone.” It wasn’t what she had meant to say, but the words had popped out anyway.
Her mother’s eyes darkened as she nodded briskly. “He left after he brought you home.”
Isabelle swallowed heavily and closed her eyes against the pain in her chest. She was going to be happy, she told herself fiercely. She had wanted this all along, but why did it hurt so much? Tears filled her eyes, but she refused to shed them. “Why?” she whispered.
“I don’t know. He left before any of us could talk to him.”
“I hurt,” she murmured, not sure if she was talking about her ache for Stefan or the lingering discomfort in her body.
“What hurts?” her mother asked gently.
Everything! She wanted to cry in anguish. “My body,” she lied. “I’m sore.”
“It will get better.” Her mother moved over to kneel before her. Isabelle opened her eyes to meet her dark, violet blue gaze. “About Stefan...”
“I’m glad he’s gone,” she said forcefully. “Now my life will get back to normal.”
Her mother’s eyes searched her face as she lightly stroked back her hair. “Yes, I’m sure it will,” she said softly, but Isabelle read the doubt in her mother’s eyes. Isabelle closed her eyes firmly, refusing to see the pain, and pity, in her mother’s gaze. “Are you hungry?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll be right back.”
Isabelle listened as her mother moved away, but she refused to open her eyes. The annoying tears were threatening to come again, and she refused to shed them. Not for him. He did not deserve her tears. This was exactly what she wanted, and she was going to rejoice in the fact that he was gone. She was going to get her life back together, and she was going to forget that he had ever existed.
Even as she told herself this, the pain in her chest constricted, and a single tear slid free.
***
The next two days passed by in a blur of pain. Isabelle found herself disjointed, irritable, and exceptionally moody. She snapped at everyone, cried for no reason, and constantly ached in every part of her body. Her heart had become a constricted lump of muscle that blazed agony through her with every beat. There were times that she thought she was simply going to die from the pain that wracked her.
She saw the looks that everyone gave her, heard their whispered comments, but she
couldn’t bring herself to care about any of it. Her mind was a foggy mess that didn’t want to function. She couldn’t bring herself to eat, and sleep was the only solitude that she found. She would curl up in her bed, drag the comforters over her head, cry out her anguish, and when she was completely exhausted, sleep would finally claim her.
Then, she would dream of him, and in her dreams the pain eased, and everything was right again. When she woke, the pain instantly reclaimed her body, seizing hold of her, and shaking her until she broke out in a cold sweat, and tears of agony were wrenched from her. She would curl into a ball and cry until she was too weak to cry anymore. Then, she would fall back asleep, and the whole process would start again.
On the third day, her hunger began to greatly affect her. She made her way upstairs, every step an act of sheer will power. She felt horrible, she looked horrible, and it was his fault. It didn’t matter that she had wanted him to leave, that she had gotten what she wanted, because she could no longer recall why she had wanted it. She only wanted him to come back. But, he had abandoned her, and he had left her to feel like this. Left her here to suffer miserably while he went off gallivanting, doing whatever he wanted. That thought only made the pain worse, and she tried desperately not to allow herself to think about what he could possibly be doing, and with whom.
The pain didn’t ease with every day like she had hoped, it only got worse. Much worse. She was beginning to fear that if it didn’t ease, she would die from it. She had never imagined that anything could hurt like this. Not even when they had drained her blood had it hurt like this. She had a permanent black cloud of misery enfolding her, making it hard to breathe, hard to live. She felt as if she was missing a piece of herself, the piece that had made it possible for her to exist. She was missing the piece that made it possible to make it through every day with some semblance of sanity, if it didn’t ease soon, than she didn’t know how she was going to survive.
Destined (Vampire Awakenings) Page 18