Destined (Vampire Awakenings) (5 page)

   “Oh wonderful,” Jack muttered. “I’m going to get the others.”

   “I think you should,” Ethan said
softly
.

   They all turned as car doors opened and slammed shut. Isabelle’s brow furrowed as the
night
air suddenly shifted and stirred. She glanced worriedly at her brothers, their casual postures were gone. They now stood stiffly, scanning the night. Ethan’s nostrils flared as he scented the air for the source of the sudden disturbance. Isabelle turned her attention back to the car. There were two people standing in front of it, hidden within the shadows of the night.

   “Do you feel that?” she whispered.

   “Yes,” Ethan said, his eyes narrowing
sharply
. Aiden and Ian stepped forward, their bodies tense, and their eyes locked
intently
upon the shadows.

   “What
is
that?” Ian hissed.

   Isabelle didn’t know, but it radiated through the inside of her, shaking her to the core. Something was off, something wasn
’
t right. It was not a scary feeling, not one that rocked her with fear, but it upset her nonetheless. There was something in those shadows that she had never felt before, something that she didn’t understand.

   “What are you guys talking about?” Delia demanded.

   “Isabelle go inside,” Ethan commanded
sharply
.

   Isabelle shot him a nasty look
as her jaw clenched and her hands fisted at her sides.
She wasn’t going anywhere if it meant leaving th
em alone with whatever the strange presence was. “No,
”
she retorted fiercely.
His eyes narrowed as they darted to her.

   “Come on.” A girl
’
s voice, Jess’s, cut through the air. Isabelle could tell that she was pulling on the man’s hand
beside her
, but he wasn’t moving.

   “Hold on.” The
deep
, husky voice was a solid command that stopped Jess’s movements
instantly
. It also caused a bolt of surprise, and something else, something that she didn’t recognize, to jolt through Isabelle.

   “Stefan,” Jess said impatiently.

   Isabelle strained to see through the shadows. Her night vision was exceptional
and she was able to make out a small, thin girl, with light blond hair
before the car
. Her hand was on the arm of the man next to her. Isabelle’s gaze sharpened on him. His shoulders were broad, his build large and muscular, and his hair was as dark as the night surrounding him. The sensation, the disturbance in the air, was coming from him. It radiated off of him, pulsing through the night.

   “It’s him,” Ethan whispered.

   “Yes,” Aiden agreed
his voice barely audible in the completely still air
.

   “Huh?” Delia asked in surprise.

  
They all ignored her as they focused their attention on the strange man hidden within the shadows.
Isabelle could barely make out the hard planes of his face and the firm set of his jaw. He looked as cold as concrete, and he was as still as stone. His eyes were dark, and narrowed upon them.

  
“Come on Stefan!” Jess said, pulling on his arm
again
.

   He shrugged off her grasp as he stoo
d stiffly; the shadows enfolded
him
within their embrace
. Isabelle’s heart leapt into her throat. She suddenly knew what it was
that was off, what he was. “Like knows like!
” she gasped.

   “What?” Delia asked in confusion
, her eyes wild and w
ary as she took a quick step
away
from he
r and her siblings
.

   “Shit
,” Ethan
hissed
, his stance becoming even more rigid as his hands fisted at his sides.
Her brothers stiffened around him, grouping tighter together.

   “You people are strange,” Delia said, her eyes darting
fearful
ly over them. “I want to see my mom.”

   “What do we do?” Aiden whispered.

  
There was a shifting among the shadows, a s
mall
bristling
as the man moved ever so slightly.
“I wouldn’t do anything,” he
informed them
coldly.

   Jess had called him Stefan, Isabelle remembered as she took an instinctive step closer to her brothers. There was something about his voice, something strange, but not unpleasant as it enveloped her like a
warm
cloak. It did something to the inside of her, caused something to stir and shift in a way that she had never experienced before. “Ethan,” she whispered fearfully.

   He took a step forward, shielding her even more. The man, Stefan, laughed softly as he finally started to move forward. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

   Another shiver wracked through Isabelle at the sound of his voice. The shadows parted around him as he moved swiftly into the light. Isabelle’s breath froze in her
lungs;
the world seemed to rock on its axis as her eyes locked upon him.
He was perfect, broad, tall
;
magnificent. The hard planes of his perfectly sculpted
bones
were highlighted by the light now playing off of his strong face.

His gaze traveled swiftly over her brothers before settling on her. His eyes were as black as onyx, and just as cold. They penetrated through her, racking her bones as they seemed to steal straight into her soul. For a moment, he was the only thing that she could see, the only thing she could feel.

   Everything else disappeared.

   Then, his gaze moved from hers, breaking the
brief
con
nection
. Isabelle felt an amazing sense of loss as the breath rushed out of her, and the world slammed into place. With a startled cry, she turned and shoved her way past Aiden and Ian
as she
fle
d
into the
sanct
uary
of he
r
house.

***

   Stefan couldn’t move as his gaze locked on a pair of pure violet eyes. The young woman stared at him, her mouth slightly parted as she gazed at him with a deer in the headlights look
of pure panic
. Her hair was dark, with soft gold streaks running through its shimmering depths. It curled around her beautiful, delicate face, before spilling down her back in thick waves. Her nose was small, and narrow, her tiny nostrils flar
ed
as she
gaped
at him.

 
She was tall and slender, with the elegant grace that was in
n
ate to all of their kind, but with her, he knew that it would have been present even if she were a human.
She was beautiful, perfect, unlike anything he had ever seen before, or had ever thought to see.
He was surprised by the bolt of lust that ripped through him as the delicate tip of her tongue came out to nervously wet her full, luscious lips.

   For a moment, she was all he could see, all he could sense. Then
,
the man next to her moved.
Stefan’s
eyes darted to him as his instincts kicked into high gear. He knew what they
all
were
,
and he knew that they were going to defend their home, and each other
. He had sensed them miles down the road, but he hadn’t known that
he
was heading
straight into their lair
. He still couldn’t believe it. Never had he seen so many of his kind in one place, and he knew that there were
still
more
of them
in the house, and he could sense even more somewhere else.

   He
also
knew that they were
n
o
t killers, but he didn
’
t know if they were going to attack him. He had come into their territory after all, and he knew full well just how territorial his kind could be.
A
strangled cry snapped his gaze back to the woman as she turned and fled. Startled looks came over the faces of the two that she shoved past, but they didn’t make a move to stop her. The other one took a step forward, his body rigid as his hands clenched into fists at his side.

   “I don’t think you should be here,”
t
he
man
said coldly.

  
Stefan
didn’t think he should be here either, but he wasn’t going to tell him that. He was stronger than most of his kind, but with so many of them here he knew that he would be in for a hard battle.
A battle
he would not walk away from unscathed, especially if he had to protect Jess and Delia from them.

   “You are the creepiest people I have ever met!” Delia cried angrily. “I want to see my mother!”    

   “Delia shut up!”
Stefan
hissed. His gaze darted to the young girl by the porch,
Delia
was easily within their reach,
and if
they wanted to hurt her they could have her in seconds. The last thing he needed was for her to draw even more attention to herself. He needed all of his senses at the moment, and
Delia’s
yelling was not helping.

   “Stefan!” Jess cried, at the same time that Delia started
shouting
angrily.

   He purposely shut them out as he
tuned
his senses to the air around him. Detecting the approach of others, he turned so that his body was halfway between the porch, and the shadows at the edge of the house. He knew immediately that there were four of them.

   They came running around the corner, skidding to a halt as their eyes landed upon him. He half
crouched
prepared to fight to the death as a soft hiss escaped him. Their eyes widened in surprise, and then narrowed dangerously. The three on the porch took a step toward him, hostility r
adiated
from every inch of them.
Stefan’s
muscles bunched in anticipation
of a fight
.

  
Jess and Delia took a frightened step back. Delia began to scream hysterically, causing Stefan to wince at the harsh sound of her grating voice.

 
“Stefan!”
Surprise snapped through him as one of the newcomers called his name and took a step forward
.
T
he animosity that had surrounded
the man
moments before
v
anish
ed
instantly. Stefan remained rigid as he straightened slowly, his eyes
intent
upon the tall, blond man that had spoken his name. For a moment he couldn’t recall who he was, then recognition sprang forth, and a small laugh escaped him.

   “David?”
Stefan
asked in disbelief.

   “Yeah, what the hell are you doing here?” David
grinned at him as he
strode forward, extending his hand. Stefan accepted it and shook it briskly.

  
“What the hell is going on?” Jess demanded
angrily, her hands planted on her hips as she glared at them
.
Her eyes swung to Stefan, a moment of fear flashing through them before she took a step closer to her sister.

   “That’s what we’d like to know,” one of the
other
newcomers muttered.

   David peered over his shoulder, his eyes widen
ed
as he finally noticed the two humans gathered behind
Stefan
. “Who the hell are you?” he demanded.

   “Kathleen’s kids,” the tall man at the front of the porch answered.

   David’s eyes widened as he spun toward him. “What?”
he gasped.

   “Yeah, don’t ask. Who the hell is that?” he asked nodding toward Stefan.

  
David blinked
in surprise, shaking his head slightly as he glanced quickly between Stefan and the group gathered on the porch.
“This is Stefan. I met him when I w
ent to
college in Pennsylvania. He’s the one that told me about what was going on with
Liam
and Sera.”

   Stefan’s eyes widened as his mouth dropped. “Are these
their
kids?” he asked in surprise.