Destined (Vampire Awakenings) (44 page)

   Stefan shook his head as he stared at her in confusion. The fact that she could even tell that something was off with Brian was amazing. Someone of her young age, who had never fed from a human, shouldn’t be able to sense it
at all
. For a moment he thought that it was his blood in her, but if she had known about the ones at the club, than that wasn’t a possibility. His gaze darted to Ethan. “Do you smell it?” he demanded.

   Ethan’s jaw locked as his eyes
,
and nostrils
,
flared. “Yes.”

   “What the hell are you talking about?” Jack exploded
impatiently
.

   “He’s a killer,
he smells of death,
” Isabelle said coldly. “And so is Stefan.”

   “Was,” Stefan replied, just as coldly.

   “Till when?” she demanded.

   Stefan’s jaw locked, his eyes flared, and a muscle in his jaw began to jump. His hands clenched on her arms as she stared defiantly up at him. “That doesn’t matter.”

   “Till when?” she hissed.

   “About two years ago
Stefan suddenly got a conscience,” Brian supplied
, disgust evident in his voice
.

   Isabelle’s eyes widened in surprise
,
she turned to
stare
at him
in disbelief
. “You weren’t when I knew you,” David said in
shock
.

   Brian snorted as he straightened away fr
om the door. “Of course we were.
”

   “Brian,” Stefan growled in warning.

   “Were you ever going to tell me?” Isabelle asked softly.

   “No.”

   She forced herself not to wince at his cold
admission
. He had intended to keep her completely in the dark about his past, about who
,
and what he was. The fact that she truly didn
’
t know the man she had given everything
to
nearly shattered her. It took every ounce of strength and pride she had to remain standing, to remain looking at him, and not to flee the room like a coward.

  
“What made you change?” She was immensely proud that her voice didn
’
t shake, but remained firm and cold.

   “
I
did.”

   “Why?” Isabelle asked softly.

   Stefan shifted his stance, his hands on her arms tighten
ed
. “There are some of us that are like the men that you met at the club,” he told her. “Brian and I used to kill them in order to stop them.”

   “Plus we got all of their power, and when a vampire kills a human they get stronger. When we kill
one of our own,
we get a
lot
stronger.”

   Stefan g
round
his teeth, forcing himself not to lash out at Brian. He was deliberately trying to bait them, deliberately being a jackass
, and he was pissing Stefan off
. Now
,
however, was not the time to beat his old friend into a bloody pulp. There was much more behind the story than Brian was letting on, but he seemed determined to try and paint everything in the worst possible light. It was because
Stefan
had changed
his ways, and left Brian
, Stefan knew that, but he was not in the mood to tolerate his insolence.

   “You ever kill
a human?” Isabelle asked softly.

   “One.”

   The color drained from her face, as for the first time she showed some kind of emotion. “Why?” she whispered.

   “It was a hunter
Isabelle;
it was him, or me.”

   Isabelle’s gaze darted to Brian, he smiled slyly at her. “That’s when Stefan got a conscience.”

   “
Now
is not the time to talk about this,” Stefan said coldly. “You need to start packing.”

   “What?” she demanded angrily.

   “You’re not staying here.”

   “I’m not leaving!” she snapped, ripping her arms free of his grasp as she tilted her chin defiantly.

   “You’re all leaving.”

   “No we’re not!” Jack declared.

   Stefan was trying very hard to keep a hold on his temper. Isabelle was still staring at him as if he was a monstrosity, and Jack, David, and Ethan looked about ready to explode. “This is our home,” Isabelle said coldly.

   “I know that Isabelle,” he hissed. “But you are going to have to leave until this is over.”

  
Her eyes flashed a violent shade of red as she glared furiously up at him.
“I think you should leave, and take
him
with you!”

  
He sighed impatiently, wanting nothing more than to drag her from the house right then.
“They’re coming here no matter what Isabelle, and when they find everyone here, they won’t leave until you’re all destroyed. You
cannot
be here for that.”

   Isabelle’s
jaw clenched furiously as she folded her arms over her chest.
David, Ethan, and Jack stood silently, their bodies tense and anxious. “I am not leaving my home!” Isabelle spat.

   “None of us are,” Ethan growled.

   “If you want to stay, t
hat’s fine. Isabelle
is
leaving,
”
Stefan said firmly.

   “The hell I am!” she
snarled
, her nostrils flar
ed
, and her eyes blaz
ed
red as she glared at him.

   Stefan’s eyes flashed with fury as he took a step closer to her. “I will drag you out of here kicking and screaming if that’s what it takes,” he hissed.

   Isabelle
glowered at him. “If you drag me out of here, I will hate you for the rest of my life Stefan.”

   Fury snapped through him, stiffening his muscles and locking his jaw as rage
filled him
. He refused to acknowledge the pain that her words aroused. It didn’t matter if she hated him or not, as long as she was safe. He could live with her
hatred;
he couldn’t live with her death. “Then you will hate me.”

   Isabelle’s eyes widened in surprise as pain and anger filled their violet depths. “How could you do this?” she whispered.

   “Go pack.” Her jaw clenched as her hands fisted at her sides, but she made no move to leave. “Now!” he roared.

   Isabelle jumped in surprise as his command whipped over her. She looked at David, Jack, and Ethan for help but they
remained silent, their gazes w
ary as they met hers. “Go Isabelle,” Ethan said softly.

   “You’re taking
his
side?” she nearly shrieked.

   “If it means keeping you safe, than yes,” Jack answered.

   Tears of frustration filled her eyes, but she refused to shed them. “And what about you?” she asked more calmly.

   “We’re staying,” Ethan said.

   “Tying the lambs up for the lions?” she taunted. “You’re not much stronger than me Ethan.”

   Anger flashed through Ethan’s eyes as he met her defiant gaze. “Go pack Isabelle.”

   She stared at them in disbelief, wanting to scream with rage and frustration, but unable to do so. It took all she had not to fly off the handle and turn into a raving lunatic. She couldn’t believe that they were taking his
side;
she couldn’t believe that he was going to force her to leave. She couldn’t believe that Stefan had kept so much of his past from her, that he had never told her about
this
. She pushed down the hurt that realization caused, and clung desperately to her anger. It was the only thing that was going to get her through this.

   “Go Isabelle,” Stefan ordered.

   “Go to hell!” she snapped. “You don’t have a say in this, and neither do you guys! I am not leaving!”

   “I have a big say in this,” Stefan spat taking another step toward her. He towered imposingly over her as she continued to glare up at him, refusing to back down, refusing to concede defeat. “You’ll either go willingly, or you’ll go forcefully, but you
are
going.”

   “Let
’
s get two things straight Stefan, no matter what I am not going willingly. And you do not have a say in this. I make my own decisions about my life, whether you like it
or not
!”

   He grasped ho
ld of her elbows, his fingers du
g painfully into her flesh as his face twisted into a brutal snarl. Isabelle stifled a cry of fear in the face of his fury as she continued to glare at him defiantly. “I do have
a say, when your life directly a
ffects mine!” he
hissed. “Just as mine directly a
ffects yours!”

   “Let go of me,” she
responded icily
.

   His hands tightened on her elbows as his eyes blazed a furious shade of red. “You will go pack, and you will do it now!”

   Isabelle refused to struggle, it would be useless anyway, and she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of overwhelming her. “I hate you.”

   His eyes flickered for a moment, hurt blaz
ed
through them before the fury quickly returned. Isabelle wanted to find satisfaction in the fact that she had hurt him, as much as he was hurting her. But she found none. Spitefulness was not something that she took joy in, nor was the obvious pain that had flared through his eyes. Besides, she didn’t hate him, she could never hate him. She wanted to take the words back, but she couldn’t. It was too late now.

   “That’s fine,” he replied coldly. “You can hate me for the rest of our days Isabelle, but you are leaving.”

   He released her and took a step back, his face as cold as granite, and just as hard. His eyes blazed shards of black ice that revealed no emotion at all. She took a deep breath in order to fight back the tears that threatened to overflow. They were no longer tears of frustration, but of hurt, and regret. “Go,” he ordered hoarsely.

   She didn’t even bother to look at Jack, David, and Ethan as she lifted her chin and left the room. “Now what?” David asked.

   Stefan fought back the turmoil of emotions clawing to break free as he turned back to them. They met his gaze, anger evident in every inch of their bodies. “Now I’m going to talk to
Liam
and Sera. I would suggest that you rethink staying here, and leave with Isabelle.”

   “We’re not going,” Jack replied coldly.

   He nodded briskly as he turned away from them. Brian moved quickly away from the door. “Stefan.” He turned back to meet Ethan’s steady stare. “When this is over, you’re leaving.”

  
He showed no sign o
f
the hurt those words caused as he kept his face completely impassive.
“Isabelle will have to come with me.”

   Ethan’s eyes flashed as his jaw clenched. “You son of a bitch,” he hissed. “Why didn’t you stay the hell away from her?”

  
Stefan
flung the door open, slamming it so hard against the wall that the glass shattered from the window, and the plaster cracked and broke. He didn’t bother to close it as he strode down the steps and into the field.    

CHAPTER 21

   The door swung open but Isabelle didn’t bother to look at him as she threw the last of her clothes into a backpack. He hadn’t come back to the room last night, a fact she was extremely grateful for. She didn’t want to talk to him
now;
she didn’t want to see him now. Most of her anger had
faded;
all she had left was a sense of loss, hurt, and betrayal. If he had just told her the truth, just told her about his past, th
e
n maybe she could understand. All she knew now was that he had been a killer, and judging by the amount of power that he possessed, he must have enjoyed it, and done a lot
of it
.

   She couldn’t forgive herself, or him, for the fact that she had given everything to a man that she didn’t even know. The worst part of it was that there was nothing she could do about it. They were bound together now, without him she would die. She couldn’t even leave, couldn’t go anywhere without him. Her life was irrevocably
tied
to his.

   “You’re mother has rented hotel rooms for you, and your younger siblings,” he
informed her
coldly.

   She didn’t answer him as she moved to the bathroom to finish packing the rest of her things. She didn’t know how to fight against the hopelessness that she felt. Didn’t know how to fight against him, and what he was to her. Didn’t know how to change what had become her future. She still loved him, she truly did, but she could never trust him, never put her faith in him again. She didn’t want to live the rest of her life like that. It was far too long of a time to be with someone that she didn’t trust, and that had hurt her this badly. It was so very unfair.