"Holy shit," Jill said as Mandy swung a fist at the man that had emerged from the palm trees and was bearing down on Emma.
Emma threw her hands up against the man's chest, he was as solid as a rock and just as unbending as her pushing, and Mandy's fist in his chin, did nothing to deter him. The rattling ting of the key falling from Mandy's hand onto the stone walkway was extraordinarily loud, and condemning, in the night. This was how she was going to die, Emma realized as she felt the man's breath against her neck and then the cool press of his fangs on her skin. At first she thought she was screaming as an echoing bellow tore through the air but her mouth remained closed while she fought to keep the man off of her.
A loud crack reverberated through the air, Ethan appeared behind the man whose neck was now twisted at an unnatural angle that would have killed a human; it only caused this monstrosity to stumble around awkwardly. Behind Ethan, she spotted the woman, Tristan, and four others coming at them in the night. Ethan grabbed hold of the awkwardly stumbling vampire and shoved him at the others, knocking them back.
"The door!" he shouted.
"I dropped the key!" Mandy's cry was full of distress as Jill knelt to search for the key.
A frustrated sound escaped Ethan as he spun back around. Jill rose to her feet as he wrapped his arm around Emma's waist and before she could protest or respond in anyway, he lifted her firmly against his side. Pushing through Mandy and Jill, he raised his free hand and smashed it against the door handle. Wood splintered as the handle gave way and he banged his hand against the door. It flew open and crashed against the wall with enough force to crack the plaster.
Jill had been leaning against the doorframe; she fell ungracefully through the open door and sprawled in a heap upon the tile in the entranceway. Ethan grabbed Mandy's arm, pushed her through, and followed swiftly behind with her still pressed against his side.
"The door!" Jill gasped as she tried to scramble back to her feet.
Ethan remained unmoving in the living room with Emma in his arms. He could feel the tension in her body, the way that she held herself away from him, and smell the sour scent of fear upon her. Her hands didn't curl into him but remained flat against his chest. The brisk beat of her heart could be felt against his arm as she tried to catch her breath.
"They can't come in here," he said.
Even as he spoke, Tristan appeared in the doorway with the woman at his side. They were both leering at them as they rested their hands against the frame. Though blood still trickled from the wound that Emma had inflicted on the woman, she could no longer see the bone. She thought she should be surprised or horrified by that fact, but after the events of this night she didn't think anything would surprise her again.
Ethan had seen four of Tristan's cohorts, but he sensed at least two more hidden somewhere in the night. A low growl escaped Ethan; he stepped forward and slammed the broken door closed just as Tristan blew a kiss at Emma. The only sound in the dark house was the rapid breaths of the women surrounding him.
Emma was uncertain how to react now that they were safe from Tristan. A part of her wanted to cling to Ethan, to curl up against him and cry. The other part wanted to shove off of him, grab her friends and flee from here as fast as they could. He may have saved them, but he was one of those things. What was he going to do with them now?
CHAPTER 17
"What was that? No never mind don't answer that," Jill muttered.
Emma couldn't see anything in the shadows that enshrouded the house. Her heart was still racing faster than the winning horse of the Kentucky Derby and there was no way that she was ever going to breathe normal again.
The shuffling of feet and a low curse from Jill accompanied a thud. As light burst into the room Emma realized that she couldn't live in denial, that what had just happened had actually happened. Ethan turned toward her; those eyes that had just been the color of rubies were back to the emerald that she had come to know so well.
She saw the hesitation in his eyes, the wariness and sadness in the face staring back at her. She'd come to love that face, but how could she love him when she realized now that she didn't even know who, or what, he was? There was no way to love someone when there was no trust, and the trust she'd had in him had been stomped beneath the events that had just transpired. She didn't even know if he was going to kill her now that she knew there wasn't something entirely human about him.
"Please..." she had to swallow in order to continue. "Please put me down."
He winced a little and bowed his head toward her, she refused to flinch away but even so he must have sensed something as he lowered her to the ground. Emma remained unyielding against him until he slipped his arm from her waist. She inhaled a shaky breath of relief as she took a hasty step away from him. The anguished look in his eyes pulled at her heart but there was nothing she could do about that, she wasn't the one with the secrets, she wasn't the one that wasn't human.
He'd also just let her go and he wasn't making any attempt to come after her, or her friends. Her mind was spinning, her legs felt weak, but she refused to sit down. She didn't want him to think she was intimidated by him, or afraid of Tristan, she wouldn't give either of them the satisfaction. Though she was definitely more than a little intimidated and frightened of the both of them, their eyes were freaking red! Or at least they had been.
Emma's gaze drifted over to Jill and Mandy. Jill remained standing by the door, her hand on the light switch, her face pale beneath her tan. Mandy had managed to get back to her feet but she looked as if she was debating just sitting on the floor again. Mandy's eyes met and held hers, Emma didn't know what to do or say. It didn't matter if she intended to remain standing; her legs weren't going to hold her anymore. She walked over and sat on one of the stools at the breakfast bar.
Ethan turned to watch her, his hair was disheveled and there was blood at the corner of his eye. Even as she spotted the blood she realized that the cut it had come from was already healed. "What are you?" she choked out.
His eyes were unwavering upon hers. "I didn't plan on you finding out like this."
"Finding out what?" she demanded.
"Emma..."
"What are you?" She hated the nearly hysterical tone of her voice but she couldn't control it.
Ethan glanced at her friends before focusing on her again. "Now isn't the time."
"Now is the only time." He ran a hand through his disheveled hair before walking toward her. She tried to jerk her hands away when he took hold of them but he refused to release her. "Ethan, tell me."
"Vampire. I am a vampire. They were vampires." The words should have been staggering, they should have made her run screaming or laugh in denial, but they were the words she'd been expecting him to utter, no matter how insane or improbable they were. She also knew that they were true. "Emma I'm sorry. It wasn't supposed to be like this. This isn't how you were supposed to find out."
"And how was I supposed to find out?" she croaked.
"I don't know how I was going to tell you," he admitted. "I'm not sure how anyone can be told this sort of thing in a reasonable way."
"But you were going to tell me?"
He clasped her cheeks and tilted her head so that she had to look up at him. "Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I care for you."
Some of her disbelief had begun to wear off. She jerked her face away from his hands as a hot poker of anger pierced her. "Lies are not the way to show someone that you care for them."
He recoiled before reaching for her again but she slid off the stool and took a step away from him. She simply couldn't deal with him right now; she just couldn't, not on top of everything else. Her ex had just tried to kill her and her friends, her ex who was also a vampire. She shook her head, was she some kind of freak magnet? First Tristan and now Ethan. Or perhaps she was just a magnet for the undead, if they were even undead.
Ethan's shoulders slumped; his eyes followed her as she walked over to join her frie
nds. Jill and Mandy were staring at him as if he was a shark who had just climbed out of the water and walked onto the shore. They huddled closer to Emma as she stood with them. He hated the look of betrayal and apprehension that shadowed Emma's eyes. Earlier she had looked at him with such trust and love, now she was staring at him as if he were a monster.
And if he was honest with himself he would admit that's exactly what he was. He survived on blood, thoughts of murder consumed him, and he had caused her to look at him like that.
"What are you going to do with us?" Emma asked.
That question was like a knife through the heart but he kept his face impassive as he watched her. "Do with you?" he inquired.
"I assume this was something we weren't supposed to know, or something that is supposed to be kept secret. It's not as if it's public knowledge that vampires exist," Emma said with far more strength than she felt.
Jill grabbed hold of her arm and Mandy bent to pick up a small vase that was on the coffee table. Emma didn't know what they were going to do if he came after them, she didn't know how they were going to be able to defend themselves against him. She'd seen some of his brutality outside and she had a feeling that she'd only caught a glimpse of what he was capable of doing. There were layers to this man, layers that she was terrified of.
"I would never hurt you Emma. Never." Though his words were meant to be comforting, she found that they weren't. He hadn't mentioned Mandy and Jill either, something that wasn't lost on Jill.
"What about us?" Jill demanded.
Emma stepped forward as Ethan's gaze ran over Jill and Mandy. She would fight him to the death before she ever let him harm her friends. "I have to call my sister."
"That's not an answer," Emma grated through her clenched teeth.
"No one is going to be hurt Emma, not by me or my family. I will keep all of you safe." Though he said the words, she didn't trust him and she sensed something more beneath his calm exterior. Of course there was something more beneath his exterior, there was a whole world of secrets and lies she'd never dreamed of discovering.
"I think you should leave," she said around the lump in her throat. She didn't know if she felt like crying or screaming more, but she did know that she needed some space, some time away from him to try and comprehend everything that had just happened.
"You can't be alone Emma, they're out there..."
"And you're in here," she whispered. "I can't... Not right now, I just can't."
"Emma," he took a step toward her but she held up her hand and shook her head.
"Please Ethan, I can't right now. You have to go."
The look on his face was nearly her undoing. He had lied to her, he had kept secrets, but she had just ripped out his heart. It wasn't something that she wanted to do, she took no pleasure in it, but she had to get away from him right now. Tears slipped down her cheeks as he bowed his head and glanced at the broken door.
"They can't come in here, can they?" she asked.
"No, but..."
"Then we're safe if we stay inside."
He looked as if he was going to protest further but he closed his mouth. The sun was rising into the sky when he pulled open the broken door and stepped into the dawning day. Emma couldn't stop the tears from flowing freely as she watched him walk away.
Ethan looked around for the vampires but they had fled before the rays of the sun had touched on the earth. This was not their time to roam free, she would be safe in the house right now, but it still took everything he had to put one foot in front of the other and walk away from her.
***
"What happened?" Isabelle demanded when he walked through the front door. He pushed her hands aside when she tried to wipe the dried blood away from his eye. "Are you ok?"
"Isabelle don't," he muttered.
"Ethan, what happened to you?"
She was worse than a gnat as she followed him down the stairs. "Back off!" he snapped at her when she pulled at his arm.
Stefan rose to his feet and took a step toward them when Ethan jerked his arm away from Isabelle's grasp. "Ethan..."
"Isabelle, come here," Stefan said in a low tone that froze Isabelle in place.
Ethan moved past his sister and to the fridge, he needed something to take the edge off of the rage festering within his chest. The urge to tear something apart with his bare hands and sink his fangs into it was growing rapidly inside of him. He craved blood and death, but all he had right now was the bags of blood in the fridge. He should have stayed to watch over Emma but if he didn't feed soon he didn't think he would be able to keep himself restrained for much longer.
Pulling a bag from the fridge, he didn't bother to tear off the top as he sank his fangs into the bottom of it. The blood filled his mouth but it did nothing to ease the frustration boiling up inside of him. He tossed the empty bag aside and stood for a few minutes with his hands fisted and his shoulders heaving as he tried to keep his volatile emotions restrained. He'd messed up, he'd messed up real bad and he had no idea how to fix it.
There was always mind control. He could make her forget and he could make her care for him again but he would hate himself for eternity if he did, and one day he would have to tell her about himself anyway. There was no way to escape the truth. He'd also be putting her at risk if he took her memories away. She had to know what Tristan was, had to know what Tristan's limitations were, and how she could keep herself safe from him. He should have told her more before he left, he would have to tell her more in order to keep her safe, but he couldn't do it when she had been looking at him as if he had just choked her kitten.
"Fuck!" he bellowed and drove his fist into the fridge with enough force to dent the stainless steel door. Isabelle jumped and Stefan stepped in front of her, Ethan would never harm his sister, but with the way he was feeling right now he thought he could tear this house down with his bare hands.
"Ethan, what happened?" Isabelle asked again.
His shoulders heaved as he tried to steady himself but it was impossible. "She knows."
Isabelle inhaled sharply. "I'm assuming she didn't take it well."
Ethan shook his head and tugged at his hair as he ran his fingers through it. Taking a steadying breath, he told them everything that had transpired over the night. He drank two more bags of blood while he spoke but he barely tasted them and they did nothing to ease the growing pressure inside of him. The only thing that would make him feel better was Emma and she wanted nothing to do with him right now.
"Are you ok?" she asked when he was done.
"No." He'd meant to tell her yes, but she knew as well as he did that he wasn't ok, that he may never be ok again. She had gone through something like this with Stefan, maybe not quite this bad but they had been separated and it had nearly destroyed Isabelle. If the clawing sensation in his chest was any indication, it may very well destroy him too.
"Does she know what she is to you? Does she know she's your mate?"
"No," he told her flatly. He couldn't tear his gaze away from the massive dent he'd left in the fridge as he strained to retain his composure.
"You have to tell her."
"Isabelle..."
"No!" Isabelle grabbed hold of his arm and pulled him toward her. "No, you have to tell her. She can't be allowed to shut you out Ethan and if she knows the truth you can work through this together. She won't shut you out if you tell her the truth."
"What will we be working out? Her ex tried to kill her last night, she's seen the most evil side of us, of me, and I'm going to what, condemn her to this life? Destroy her?"
"You won't be destroying her, but if you don't tell her she could destroy you! Ethan she has to know, please tell her."
"Isabelle," Stefan said. He took hold of her arm and tried to pull her away from Ethan but she refused to release him. "Isabelle, step away."
She finally released his arm but Stefan only succeeded in moving her a few feet back. "Tell her, Ethan, please," she pleaded.
Ethan
turned away from the tears brimming in his sister's eyes. "I haven't had any of her blood and we've only known each other for a couple of weeks. I'll take care of her ex, I'll make sure that she's kept safe, but I can walk away from this and I will walk away from her after. She deserves that much."
"But you won't be able to," Isabelle whispered. "No matter how strong you are, and no matter what you think, you won't be able to walk away. We couldn't."
"You were both vampires..."
"Dad couldn't and neither could mom!" she cried and took a step toward him. "She cares for you Ethan, I've seen that. If you talk to her I think she'll understand, but you have to give her a chance to make a choice."
"This is my choice," he growled.
"What about her friends?" Stefan inquired. "What are we going to do about them?"
Ethan shook his head and stepped away from the fridge, his teeth clenched as his eyes turned toward the growing day. "I don't know."
Stefan nudged Isabelle behind him as he stepped forward. "We can't leave them with this knowledge and not know what they are going to do with it. We can strip their memories, change them."
"I don't know if Emma will allow that," Ethan said.
"She may not have a choice on this one. If you insist upon taking this path of leaving her behind then you have to realize that she cannot be left behind with the knowledge that she has."
He knew that Stefan was right, but he couldn't bring himself to do something that might upset her even more. "They won't say anything, who would they even tell?"
"There are people out there that would believe whatever they say and would prefer to see us dead. You may not have come across any hunters, but they are out there and they are lethal. This is as dangerous for all of them as it is for us," Stefan said.
"You're not going to touch her," Ethan warned.
"I won't touch her but you have to think about this reasonably Ethan, this is something that has to be taken care of, for all of our goods. From what you've told us about this group of vampires, we may require more help to take care of them."
Untamed (Vampire Awakenings, Book 3) Page 17