Destined (Vampire Awakenings) (48 page)

   “Yes.”

   He brushed the hair back from her face, his eyes intent as he studied her worriedly. She flung herself forward, wrapping her good arm around his neck as she clung to him, tears of relief and joy flowing down her face. “I’m sorry!” she sobbed. “I’m so sorry.”

   “
Sh
h
,” he whispered gently as he enveloped her tightly in his strong embrace. “Don’t cry
Issy
. It’s okay.”

   “No it’s not.”
   He held her tightly in his arms, savoring in her sweet scent and comforting warmth. She lifted her head from his shoulder, her eyes bright with tears as she glanced behind him. “Is everyone ok?” she asked.

   “We’re all fine,” her mom said as Brian burst through the door.

   “They’re dead already?” he asked, sounding highly disappointed.

   “Yes,” Stefan replied. He stood slowly, pulling Isabelle up with him. Brian’s eyes landed on her, a soft smile curving his mouth. Stefan stiffened as he drew her tighter against his side, his eyes narrowing dangerously on Brian. “Don’
t you have somewhere else to be?
”

   Brian shrugged negligently as he turned to survey the destruction of the room. Isabelle pulled away from Stefan, scowling at Brian as she ran over to hug her family. Stefan watched her for a moment, his tension, fear and anger still simmering just beneath the surface. She had been placed in too much danger for his liking, way too much. He couldn’t seem to shake the beast in him as his emotions swung wildly out of control. He shot Brian a glaring look as he strode past him,
and
grabb
ed
Isabelle as she turned away from hugging Vicky and Abby.

   He tucked her back against his side, ignoring the confused glance she shot him as he allowed himself to be comforted by her presence. He closed his eyes, letting her heat envelope him, and soothing the raging tension that lingered within. “Sera!”

  
Liam
burst into the room, his eyes wild and frenzied as he raced past Stefan to his family. The others came slowly forward, picking through the rubble, and bodies, that littered the room. “I’ll take care of this,” Brian said. “You guys should get out of here. I’m sure someone’s called the police by now.”

   Stefan nodded briskly. “I’ll get Kyle and Julian,” Doug said.

   “They’re in the room next to mine!” Sera called out.

   “Damn kids sleep like the dead,” Mike muttered as he turned to follow Doug.

   “You sure you can handle this?” Stefan asked Brian.

   Brian snorted as he raised a
n
eye
brow. “Are you kidding me?”

   “Remember what I said.”

   “I know you’ll kill me if I come back. Trust me I’ve had enough of Oregon. Now, get out of here.”

   Stefan nodded as he led Isabelle forward. She was still cradling her arm, but he didn’t have the time to look at it now. They needed to get out of here as soon as
possible;
he could already hear the distant wa
il of sirens. “Take care of him,
”
Brian said softly.

   Isabelle stopped before Brain, her head tilted slightly as she studied him. He smelled off, but it wasn’t like the others, not like she had first thought anyway. There was a lingering odor of death around him, but it was different, it wasn’t as bad. There
was also a lingering loneliness
and despair in him that reminded her of what had existed in Stefan when she had first met him. For some reason, she didn’t think that
Brian
was a truly bad guy
.
A
lthough
,
she wouldn’t mind punching him in the face for all of th
e
trouble
he had caused
.

   “You’re not as far gone as you
think
,
or you like to pretend you are. You can come back,” she told him.

   His mouth quirk
ed
in wry amusement as he studied her. “And how would you know?”

   Stefan’s arms tightened around her, but she ignored the subtle hint as she met Brian’s gaze. “I just know,” she answered.

   Brian studied her for a moment more, the smile slipping from his mouth as he turned toward Stefan. “Never thought I’d see you like this,
g
ues
s
that damn soul mate thing is true after all,
” he said softly. “Take care of her.”

   “I intend too,” Stefan replied. “Take care of yourself.”  

   The amusement was instantly back in Brian’s eyes as he nodded sharply. “Of course.”

   Stefan tried to lead her away, but she remained where she was for a moment more. She wanted to help Brian, to assure him that he wasn’t the bad guy that he obviously thought himself to be. “Remember what I said,” she whispered softly.

   Brian glanced back at her, his face hard, and his eyes cold again. Isabelle sighed softly and turned away from him. There was nothing more that she could say, or do. He would make his own
decisions;
she could only hope that they would be the right ones. Mike suddenly appeared in the doorway, Kyle slumped over his shoulder.

   “There’s a crowd gathering, Doug’s taking care of
the ones that have come outside
but we have to go.”

   “I’ll take care of everyone,” Brian said. “They’ll never know what happened.”

   “Does he have the power to do that?” Isabelle asked Stefan as he led her out to the idling cars.

   “Yes,” he said, opening the backdoor of Jack’s car for her.

   She waited for him to slide in beside her and close the door. “Do you?”

   “Yes.”

   She frowned as she leaned against his side, absorbing his warmth, and comfort. “Will you tell me everything?”

   “Yes.”

CHAPTER 23

   Isabelle woke slowly the next morning, instinctively snuggling closer to Stefan as she drifted awake. She didn’t remember being placed in the bed, or losing her clothes, but both had occurred. She smiled softly, almost purring as Stefan ran a hand lightly down her back, causing shivers of delight to course through her. She moved closer to him, savoring in the warmth of his body as his hand dipped between her legs.

   She gasped and jerked as pleasure coursed through her. His mouth seared into her neck and back as he left a trail of hot, lingering kisses across her skin. Trembling with need, Isabelle was swept away by his touch as he continued to make slow love to her with his hand. Isabelle moaned her displeasure when his hand slid away from her. She was about to roll over, when he slid on top of her, his hard body pressing
against her back
.

   “Stefan,” she gasped in surprise as his strong thigh parted her legs.

   “
Shh
,” he soothed, lightly nibbling upon her ear.

   Isabelle forgot all about her fear
as he slid slowly into her, enfolding her as he moved over her, his hands clasping hold of hers. Isabelle was whimpering with pleasure when he seized hold of her waist and pulled her to her knees. She was swept away by the feel of him, the delicious sensations that flooded her body as his movements became fierce
r
, more demanding. His hands encircled her, fondling and caressing her breasts as he lightly teased her nipples.

   Isabelle
cried out
with the force of the orgasm that ripped through her, shaking her legs, and causing her entire body to convulse with pleasure. His arms held her up as he drove fiercely into her, groaning loudly as his trembling arms tightened around her
and he spilled into her
.

    She collapsed onto the bed, panting for air, and trembling from the shivers of delectation that still wracked her. Stefan fell beside her, pulling her on top of his chest and entrapping her tightly against him. She sighed happily as she nuzzled his chest, relishing in the feel of him against her. Her hands curled tightly around his neck, lightly playing with the soft hair that curled at the base of it.

   The memory of everything that had happened yesterday, and the day before
,
crashed
back
over her. Her hands tightened as a soft whimper escaped her. She buried her head in his neck as she tried not to think about it, tried not to recall the fear and horror that had filled her. He gently soothed back her hair as he lightly stroked her back. Isabelle didn’t want to move, didn’t want to think about anything, but she knew that she had too
.
S
he had to know the truth, and she couldn’t put it off forever, no matter how much she wished too.

   “Stefan...”

   “When I was eleven my family and I were coming back from the theater when we were attacked,” he said softly, knowing what she was going to say before she even spoke. The time for the truth had arrived, and he wanted to get it over and done with as soon as possible. His hold tightened on her as he opened himself up to memories that he had been trying to forget for a long time. Memories that he had never wanted to return to, and had never wanted her exposed to, but she had to know, and he was going to tell her.

   “There were three of them, two men, and one woman
.
V
ampires. They trapped us in an alley,
and
kill
ed
my mother and father instantly. My brother was sixteen at the time, and my sister had just turned fifteen. My brother tried to stop them, he went after them, but he was useless against them. My sister grabbed me and started running toward the street. I tried to go back, but she wouldn’t let go of me. My brother’s dying screams followed us out of that alley.”

   Isabelle shud
dered against him; tears welled
in her eyes as she continued to stroke the back of his neck. His voice was hard and cold as he spoke,
it
reveal
ed
no emotion. If it weren’t for his hands tightening upon her waist, she would have thought that the death of his family had had no effect on him. But his hands, and the stiffness in his body, belied the coldness that radiated in his voice. 

   “We were sent to live with my aunt and uncle in Wales.
Neither my sister, nor
I, ever spoke of what had happened, not even to each other. I think we were both scared that we would end up in
Bedlam;
at least I knew I was. She married three years later and moved back to London. I didn’t see her again until I was eighteen, and by that time, she had a son. That was the only time I tried to talk to her about what had happened, she screamed at me, telling me that they were just thieves,
and
that I was crazy. When I pressed the issue, she told me to get out of her house, and to never come back. I never did.

   “After that, I searched London. I knew what I had seen, what they were, and I was determined to seek vengeance for my family. When I couldn’t find them there, I went to the continent. I spent a long time searching France, Spain, and Germany before moving onto Italy. That was when I met up with a group of vampire hunters, and joined them. I was twenty one at the time.”

   Stefan paused to take a deep breath. Isabelle remained silent, her hands curl
ed
tightly into his neck as she fought back the tears that wanted to flow. Tears she instinctively knew would cause him to stop speaking. He didn’t want her tears, but her heart was breaking for the boy that he had been, for the cruel twist of fate that had ripped his family away from him and caused him to grow up in an instant.

   She couldn’t even begin to imagine what it would be like to lose any of her family, it was like a knife in the chest just thinking about it. She couldn’t imagine what it had been like for him to see them murdered, and so viciously. She wanted to cry for the man that had gone to his sister, only to be turned away by the only family he had left. If the woman had still been alive, Isabelle would have ripped her to shreds for being so cruel to him, for hurting him in such a way.

   “For the next five years I searched the continent, destroying any vampires I came across. I found the two men in that time, both in Greece. With the help of my new friends, I was able to overtake, and destroy them, but the girl still evaded me.”

   “I ran into her again two years later, in Dublin. Her name was Brenda.” His voice was hard and strained, his hands dug painfully into her soft skin. She knew that he wasn’t aware of it, and she made no sound, no protest to let him know. “She recognized me, remembered me. I was alone against her, consumed with vengeance, and hatred. It wasn’t enough. She won the fight, but thought that it would be more fun, more
amusing
to turn me
into the one thing that I had hated for the last sixteen years.