Boxed Set

by Brenda K. Davies

  "Go!" he roared.

  Emma's legs were wobbly as she took a few more steps back. It was Mandy who recovered the fastest though. She took a hasty step back, tugged on the arms still holding her, and jerked them both forward. Ethan's eyes continued to burn into Emma's; she couldn't tear herself away from the sight of them. This couldn't be real. It simply couldn't be. Yet she knew it was as true as the ocean's continuous ebb and flow.

  What is he? She wondered frantically as her gaze searched the fierce contours of his set jaw and cheekbones. He was whatever Tristan was; something lethal and something far beyond the mortal realm she’d always been part of, and always been so certain of. The whole world blurred and shifted before her, but she had no time to wrap her mind around it as Jill and Mandy propelled her across the sand.

  Mandy leaned heavily against her side, her extra weight was a strain on Emma's shoulders, but Emma refused to release her. She was having a difficult time trying to run through the sand with her prosthetic leg, but she was keeping up with them. The shock of what they had just witnessed made Emma's legs feel like she was trying to walk with her ankles tied together. She couldn't quite get her feet to work cohesively, but she still managed to get them to move enough to get off the beach and onto the pavement of the road.

  Ethan turned his attention back to Tristan; an evil smile twisted his mouth as he finally had a chance to get him alone. He'd seen the look on Emma's face, the revulsion and terror radiating from her eyes. She wasn't supposed to find out like this, there was no easy way to break this news to anyone, but this was a complete disaster. It was something he wasn't sure he could ever fix, but he would make sure this monstrosity never went near her again.

  "She really was a good piece of ass," Tristan said in a taunting tone of voice.

  Ethan had never experienced such a burst of rage in his life as he did at Tristan's words. With a ferocious snarl, he lunged forward. He almost had his hands on Tristan when a scream reached his ears. The nearby restaurants and bars diminished the sound, but he detected it.

  Tristan grinned at him as he danced backward across the sand. "By the way, I have more friends."

  Those words weren't like a cold glass of water in the face; they were more like being dunked into Niagara Falls in the middle of January. He didn't hesitate, didn't think twice about Tristan as he spun toward where he last saw Emma and her friends. Thoughts of Emma pushed him over the sand faster than he'd ever moved in his life. It almost felt like he was flying, his feet barely touched the ground as he covered the beach in bounds that would surpass a Cheetah. The world rushed past him in a blur.

  The only thing he saw were the three people ahead of him, and the vampire pursuing them. There was no way the three of them could escape the woman honing in on them, even as the thought crossed his mind Mandy stumbled and went down. From the shadows, another vampire emerged.

  Emma's shoulder was wrenched when Mandy went down; Jill groaned on the other side of her as they were both almost pulled over with Mandy but they somehow managed to remain on their feet. Emma's lungs were on fire; there wasn't enough oxygen in the air as she panted heavily to get more of it into her body. The woman with red eyes pursuing them was getting closer, and from the shadows of a cropping of palm trees, another man emerged. She bit back a scream and released Mandy's arm to snag a brick sized rock off the ground.

  "Get inside!" Ethan's bellow echoed through the night. "Emma, get in the house!"

  There wasn't enough time for that though as Jill managed to get Mandy onto her feet and the woman jumped at her. Panic for her friends and herself took over. Acting on instinct alone, she held the rock as she swung her arm up and smashed it against the side of the woman's head. The force of the blow jolted her arm and knocked the rock from her hand, but it also sliced the side of the woman's face open. Blood poured from the gash that revealed her cheek all the way to the bone.

  Jill had Mandy's arm around her shoulders as they stumbled past her, but the woman was already recovering from the blow and coming back toward her.

  "Key! Key! Key!" Jill shouted as Mandy scrambled for the key in her pocket.

  Emma stumbled back and fell against the side of the house. Her heart leapt into her throat when the woman's lips peeled back to reveal two lethal-looking fangs hanging over her bottom lip. Emma’s mind spun in circles faster than the earth spun on its axis. There was no way to process what was coming at her. Even as every sane part of her screamed this must be some nightmare or alcohol-induced hallucination, the rest of her knew there was no way to deny the events of this night.

  "Holy shit," Jill said.

  Mandy swung a fist at the man who 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 is how I’m 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 her.

  A loud crack reverberated through the air, and the man’s head twisted to the side. Ethan appeared behind the man. The unnatural angle would have killed a human; it only caused this monstrosity to stumble around.

  Behind Ethan, she spotted the woman, Tristan, and four others coming at them in the night. Ethan grabbed the 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 any way, 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 on 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 she held herself away from him, and smell the sour scent of her fear. 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 Emma inflicted on the woman, she could no longer see the bone. She thought she should be surprised or horrified by that, but after the events of this night, she didn't think anything would surprise her again.

  Ethan saw four of Tristan's cohorts, but he sensed at least two more hidden somewhere in the night. A 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 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 Seventeen

  "What was that?
No, never mind, don't answer that," Jill muttered.

  Emma couldn't see anything in the shadows enshrouding the house. Her heart raced faster than the winning horse of the Kentucky Derby, and there was no way she was ever going to breathe normally again.

  The shuffling of feet and a curse from Jill accompanied a thud. As light burst into the room, Emma realized she couldn't live in denial.

  Ethan turned toward her; those eyes, which had just been the color of rubies, were back to the emerald she knew 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 she didn't even know who, or what, he was? There was no way to love someone when there was no trust. Her trust in him was stomped beneath the events that just transpired. She didn't know if he would kill her now that she knew there wasn't something entirely human about him.

  "Please..." she had to swallow 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. There was nothing she could do about that; she wasn't the one with the secrets, she wasn't the one who 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 more than a little intimidated and frightened of them both, 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 managed to get back to her feet, but she looked as if she were debating 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 blood dried in the corner of his eye. Even as she spotted the blood, she realized the cut it came from had healed.

  "What are you?" she choked out.

  His eyes were unwavering on 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 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 make her run screaming or laugh in denial, but they were the words she'd expected him to utter, no matter how insane or improbable they were. She also knew they were true.

  "Emma, I'm sorry,” he said. “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 reasonably."

  "But you were going to tell me?"

  He clasped her cheeks and tilted her head, so she had to look up at him. "Yes."

  "Why?"

  "Because I care for you."

  Some of her disbelief started to wear off. She jerked her face from his hands as a hot poker of anger pierced her. "Lies are not the way to show someone 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 freak magnet? First Tristan and now Ethan. Or perhaps she was 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 friends. Jill and Mandy stared at him as if he were a shark who had 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 shadowing Emma's eyes. Earlier she had looked at him with such trust and love; now she stared at him as if he were a monster.

  And if he were 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.

  The 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. It's not as if it's public knowledge vampires exist," Emma said with more strength than she felt.

  Jill grabbed her arm, and Mandy bent to pick up a small vase 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 defend themselves against him. She'd seen some of his brutality outside, and she had a feeling she'd only caught a glimpse of what he could do.

  "I would never hurt you, Emma. Never." Though his words were meant to be comforting, she found they weren't. He hadn't mentioned Mandy and Jill either, something not 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," he said.

  "That's not an answer," Emma grated through her clenched teeth.

  "No one is going to be hurt, not by my family or me. I will keep you all 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 she needed some time away from him to comprehend everything that had 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 stepped 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 and kept secrets, but she had just ripped out his heart. It wasn't something 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 as she watched him walk away.

  Ethan looked around for the vampires, but they had fled before the rays of the sun 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 bl
ood away from his eye. "Are you okay?"

  "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 on his arm.

  Stefan rose and stepped 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 the rage festering within his chest. The urge to tear something apart with his bare hands and sink his fangs into it grew rapidly inside 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 could 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 inside 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 screwed 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 put her at risk if he took away her memories. She had to know what Tristan was, learn 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 to keep her safe, but he couldn't do it when she was 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 felt right now, he thought he could tear this house down with his bare hands.