Untamed (Vampire Awakenings, Book 3) (28 page)

"Your whole trip has been ruined because of
me," Emma muttered.

"It was ruined because Tristan is a freaking
psycho, besides judging by the looks of Ethan I'm immensely curious
about meeting these brothers of his," Jill said with a wink.

Emma laughed as Jill succeeded in easing some
of her anxiety. "They're younger than him."

"Even better, fresh meat."

Emma couldn't stop laughing as she leaned
against her friend's side. "Can you honestly believe this is our
lives right now?"

"Not even a little bit," Mandy said. "Things
will definitely never be the same again."

Emma couldn't help but agree as she glanced
at the hallway. She was curious about what else it was that
Isabelle and Ethan were keeping from her but she didn't mention
that to Jill and Mandy. They didn't like the idea of being here
anymore and they would be safer at the other house, Emma was far
more concerned about their safety than whatever it was that Ethan
still wasn't telling her. She had a feeling she would find out
eventually anyway, and nothing could be more astounding than what
she'd already learned.

***

Emma dropped her bags on the floor by the bed
she had once shared with Ethan. She turned away from it as memories
of that amazing night trickled through her mind. Even though she
couldn't see him, she could feel him within the room; his presence
was as powerful as the waves crashing against the shore. Taking a
deep breath, she turned to face him as he leaned against the frame
of the door. His lips were pinched, deep lines etched the corners
of his mouth, and his eyes had taken on a reddish hue that wasn't
quite the red she'd seen the other night, but they most certainly
weren't the pure emerald that she was used to.

"Are you ok?" she asked nervously.

"Yes." He was anything but ok though. What
felt like a panther clawing at his chest and the tightening in his
gut had increased over night, now he was certain he could drain
five
more people and still not
satisfy his thirst. Watching her now was the only thing that made
him feel even a little better. He had to feed, but he had to make
sure that she was settled in before he could retreat to the world
of blood that was feverishly beckoning him.

"I can stay with Jill and Mandy. Maybe we can
find a cot to put in their room, or an air mattress so you don't
have to sleep on the couch," she offered.

"I'll be fine," he assured her. "I'd like for
you to stay in here." He didn't add that he was hoping she would
welcome him back into her arms or that it would be easier to
protect her if her friends weren't in the way.

"Ethan," she said when he turned away from
her. "Thank you."

His shoulders hunched up but he didn't say
anything as he left the room and made his way to the kitchen.
They'd taken the body of the man out on the boat this morning and
tossed his weighted remains into the ocean. Thankfully the police
had never arrived and he and Stefan were able to move the body so
quickly through the early morning hours that he doubted anyone had
seen them. If they had been spotted the humans probably hadn't had
the time to process what it was they had seen.

Isabelle took a step away from him when he
walked over to the dented fridge. It creaked as he opened it and
for a second he thought the hinges might give out but the door held
on. "I'll have to buy another one of these before we leave," he
said as he grabbed three of the bags from inside.

"That's not an issue right now. Are you going
to be able to do this?" she asked.

"Of course."

She hovered near his elbow as she leaned
against the counter. "Look at me." He grabbed a bag and tore the
top from it with his teeth before looking at her. "Have you seen
your eyes?"

"Haven't had the pleasure of a mirror
lately."

"That much is obvious," she retorted. "You
look like you've been up for a week straight."

He frowned at her before downing the contents
of the bag. "I feel like I have. I take it my eyes are red."

"No, they're some sort of weird combination
of your green and red. I've never seen anything like it before
Ethan."

"Well isn't that interesting." He ripped the
top off of another bag and consumed the contents. "Don't you have
to get to the airport?"

Isabelle sighed and shook her head. "You're a
stubborn fool."

"It takes one to know one."

A footstep in the hall caused him to drop
everything into the trash, the last thing he wanted was for Emma to
see him feeding, she was freaked out enough as it was. When he saw
that it was only Stefan he retrieved the unused bag of blood from
the trash and nodded to him before retreating to the pool area. He
settled into the shade of an umbrella as the sun now made his skin
itch in a way that it never had before. He listened as the two of
them left the house but his attention was focused on the sun
shining off of the clear pool water. It was the last place he'd
made love to her, the last place he'd been inside of her and known
complete calm.

There wasn't enough blood in the world, he
decided as he tossed the empty bag into the trash and went to get
more.

***

Isabelle eagerly searched the crowd of
passengers getting off of the plane as they walked around her. She
spotted Ian easily amongst the crowd, at six four he was the
tallest of her siblings, and taller than most of the people around
him. His golden hair was disheveled and curled at the corners of
his sky blue eyes. Not only was he the tallest of her siblings but
he was also the most built with his broad shoulders and chest. His
heavily muscled arms were emphasized by the black wife beater tank
top he wore.

Aiden was at his side; at six two he was
shorter than Ian but still tall, he also had a more lean, whipcord
kind of build than Ian and Ethan. His black hair was cut shorter
than the last time she'd seen him and his eyes was darker than
Ethan and her father's, they were more of a leaf green than an
emerald.

Ian reached out and pushed Aiden's shoulder,
knocking him slightly off balance. Aiden lowered his shoulder and
pushed into Ian's chest in response. They both laughed and smiled
as they continued to jostle each other through the crowd. For a
minute, her heart soared as she savored in the sight of them. It
had been almost a year since she'd seen them and she'd missed them
so much. It had been an amazing experience to explore the world
with Stefan, but she was ready to get home to her family. This was
supposed to be a happy reunion and yet all she felt was stressed
out.

Rising on her tiptoes, she waved above the
crowd to get their attention. They stopped shoving at each other
long enough to look toward her and Stefan. "There she is!" Aiden
broke into a broad grin when he finally saw her. He barely
acknowledged the people around him as he rushed forward.

Isabelle released a little squeal as he
wrapped his arms around her, lifted her off the ground and spun her
around. Ian claimed her as soon as Aiden released her. Isabelle
clung to him while he twirled her around before placing her on her
feet. He grinned at her as he kept hold of her shoulders and leaned
back to inspect her.

"It's good to see you, sis," he said and
slapped her on her shoulders.

"You too," she told him.

He stepped away from her and turned toward
Stefan. "Stefan," he greeted and extended his hand.

Stefan took hold of his hand and shook it.
"Where's Ethan?" Aiden inquired as he scanned the crowd of people
moving around them.

Isabelle felt her smile slip away when they
both turned questioning looks on her. "We have a problem," she told
them.

Ethan lifted his head from his hands when the
front door opened. He didn't have to see them to know that his
brothers had arrived; he could hear and smell them clearly. He took
hold of the glass of whiskey sitting on the table before him. It
probably wasn't the best idea to be drinking right now but it
seemed to be the only thing that helped to curb the edge of the
growing insanity within him.

He took a sip of the liquid and braced
himself for the invasion of his family. Solitude was best for him
right now, but there was no way his family was going to give him
that opportunity. Ian poked his head out of the house first but
Aiden was right behind him. Isabelle shoved them both out the door
and stepped onto the patio behind them.

"Well look at you drinking all by yourself,
in the middle of the day, somebody's wallowing in self-pity."
Though Ian was smiling, his voice held no humor and his eyes were
troubled as he studied Ethan.

"If you join me I won't be by myself," Ethan
said.

Ian's eyes widened as he approached, he
hesitated as his gaze locked on Ethan's. He knew what his eyes
looked like now, knew what his brother was seeing, and if Ian had
looked like this he would have hesitated before approaching him
too. Ethan lifted his drink and saluted his brother with it before
downing the rest of the contents. He'd had so many of them now that
he didn't feel the burn anymore but he didn't feel a buzz either,
there was only a softening of the razors slicing his stomach and
chest apart.

"Here's to afternoon drinking," he muttered
and refilled his drink.

"Ethan..."

"Don't talk, just drink." He lifted his glass
and swirled the amber liquid around.

"Those are my kind of words," Aiden said as
he dropped into the seat across from him. He already had a beer in
his hand. His brows were drawn together as he studied Ethan but he
took a swig of his beer. "Though usually they're uttered during
more festive times, but hey here's to moping."

"I'm not moping!" Ethan snapped at him.

Aiden snorted before tipping the bottle back
to his lips. "Could have fooled me. Anyway, where is the little
human?"

"She's in her room, and you're to stay away
from her," Ethan warned.

"I think it's only right that I meet my
future sister-in-law."

"That most likely won't happen."

Aiden stared at him before leaning forward
and resting his elbows on his knees. "Well when you're not being
such an obstinate ass, you'll realize that not only
will
it happen, but it
has
to happen."

Ethan glowered at him as he took another sip
of whiskey. "Not if she doesn't want it to."

"Ethan..."

"No!" he barked. "Like I've told Isabelle,
back
off
on this."

Aiden's cheerful demeanor vanished, his
forest green eyes were steely as he relentlessly held Ethan's gaze.
Ian slid into the chair next to him, grabbed a glass and poured
himself some whiskey. "You smell different," Ian commented.

"I killed a man," he admitted. "And I'll do
it again if it means keeping her safe."

"So Isabelle said," Aiden replied.

"Do I smell like a landfill?" he
inquired.

"No, nothing that bad but it's definitely
different, maybe like overripe fruit," Isabelle answered. "It's
nowhere near as repugnant as the smell that was coming off of the
vampires that attacked us at the hotel or the ones that are with
Tristan."

That was a relief; the last thing he wanted
was to smell that bad to his siblings. "That's good to know."

"What about her friends?" Ian asked.

"What about them?" Ethan muttered.

"Are we going to allow them to keep their
memories?"

"She'll hate me if I take them away," Ethan
told him. "And I won't mess with her mind and I won't allow any of
you to do so either. She has to know the truth if she's going to
stay safe."

"At this point they all do," Stefan said. "We
can't continue to warp their thoughts to our bidding in order to
keep them here. We may fry their minds if we do it too often. I
don't think they'll be a threat to us, they seem to really care for
Emma, and will help to keep her safe. I don't think they'll say
anything."

"If they become a threat to us?" Aiden
asked.

"I'll kill them myself," Stefan said
flatly.

Ethan remained silent as he thought over
those words. "Even if she hates me after, if they somehow become a
threat to her I'll kill them too, but I
do
believe they'll keep our secret and do whatever
it takes to keep her alive."

"If you two are confident of that then I'll
trust your judgment," Ian said. "Have you talked to dad yet?"

"No, why?" Ethan asked.

"Because if anyone knows what you're going
through, it's him."

"Yeah, I guess, but I don't want to involve
him or mom. They're thousands of miles away; worrying them isn't
going to do anyone any good."

"They would be on the first plane here if
they knew," Isabelle said as she and Stefan settled into the other
chairs.

"And that's the last thing I want to happen.
There's danger here, the two of you shouldn't even be here," he
said to Aiden and Ian. "You haven't even hit maturity yet."

"Well one of us hasn't," Ian said and shoved
Aiden's shoulder. Aiden scowled back at him and flipped him the
finger.

"You did?" Isabelle demanded. "When?"

"Last month," Ian answered. "I figured I'd
wait until summer break to tell everyone."

"Well congratulations," Isabelle said and
squeezed his hand.

"I guess that would be the term for it," Ian
said with a smile before turning his attention back to Ethan. "But
we're more help than you think, and we're not going anywhere, so
get that thought out of your head. You know we're stronger than
young vampires, even before we reach maturity."

"If something happens to you..."

"Mom will kick your ass and it's a win-win
for us all," Aiden broke in with a laugh.

"We may need even more help than just you two
though," Stefan said. "There are quite a few of them, and although
they are young and less powerful, they're also driven by their
thirst for blood and their need for death. They'll be volatile and
unpredictable."