Untamed (Vampire Awakenings, Book 3)

by Brenda K. Davies

  "Ian and Aiden will be here tomorrow," Isabelle reminded him.

  "We may need even more help than them. Neither of them has reached maturity yet. They're strong, but if this group is feeding on humans then they're also strong, and there may be even more of them than what Ethan saw tonight. We're going to have to figure out how to take them down. The humans can't be left alone though."

  "Those vampires also have human help," Ethan said.

  Isabelle did a double take. "What makes you think that?"

  "Judging by the smell of those vamps, they're not moving around in the daytime and yet things have been left behind for Emma during the day. There's a human helping them, most likely under their control, or they have a vampire with them that hasn't killed as many people as the others have," Ethan explained. "If it's a human then they can go in that house. I'm going to go back, she probably still won't let me in but I can keep an eye on the place and make sure she stays safe."

  "You should go with him," Isabelle said to Stefan.

  "I'm not leaving you alone," Stefan told her.

  "I can take care of a human or another vampire," she retorted. "You should go with him."

  "I'll be just fine on my own," Ethan informed her.

  Isabelle's expression was resolute as she folded her arms across her chest. "No, you're not going to be out there all alone."

  "They can't move about in the daytime Isabelle."

  "Then we're all going." He knew there was no arguing with her when she spun on her heel and disappeared down the hall.

  "This could get ugly," Stefan muttered.

  Ethan tore his attention away from where his sister had vanished to meet Stefan's gaze. "It already has."

  CHAPTER 18

  "I still don't know how to wrap my head around any of this," Jill muttered as Emma put a cup of coffee before her. "I mean, what the hell just happened?"

  "I don't know," Emma said. "Nothing good."

  "I feel like we just walked into a bad sci-fi movie or a hidden camera show. I keep waiting for someone to jump out and shout, 'Gotcha!' at us," Mandy said as she sipped at her coffee. "And Tristan, wow Tristan. I bet this is why he just disappeared all of a sudden."

  "I suppose dying would put a damper on his stalking habits," Emma muttered.

  "Do you think they're dead? Do you think Tristan actually died?" Jill asked.

  "Isn't that how it's supposed to happen? Or at least that's the way it's always worked in the books and movies, right?"

  "Yeah well who knew books and movies were right about this. There was no way we ever could have expected this to be true, ever. What are you going to do Emma?"

  "I don't know," she admitted as she sat on a stool across from them. Her eyes drifted to the broken door that was propped closed. "What do I do?"

  "I can't even begin to answer that question, this is complete insanity," Mandy said. "I would say you should run and catch the first flight off of this island, that we all should, but Ethan saved our lives last night and the way he looks at you with so much caring, you can't fake that look."

  Emma sipped at her coffee as she continued to study the ruined door. "You saw what happened between Tristan and I in the end. Ethan lied to me; he started all of this knowing that it was built on a lie. What kind of a relationship could we even have? What would become of me, of him? His freaking eyes were red, Mandy."

  "Yeah that's an image I won't be forgetting, ever."

  "You're going to need Ethan's help to get through this Emma; we don't know how to handle Tristan, not like he does. Believe me I understand you feel betrayed, more than a little frightened by this whole thing, but he may be the only one that can protect you right now. Protect all of us," Jill said.

  "That's just it though," Emma said as she placed her cup of coffee down. "I don't want anyone to protect me. I was finally free of Tristan, I thought I was finally free, and yet I'm once again trapped by circumstances completely beyond my control. I don't want to rely on anyone, I want to have control over my life and not be trapped again."

  Mandy took hold of her hand and squeezed it tenderly. "It's not fair, but you're not trapped. You have choices here just let us know what you want to do and we'll stand beside you. Would you like to leave?"

  "And if Tristan follows?" she murmured.

  "I don't know," Mandy said with a sigh. "I don't know anything anymore. We'll have to get more answers from Ethan, when you're ready, but for now we'll stay inside and we'll try and get this straightened out the best that we can."

  Emma lifted her cup again and blew on the steaming coffee before taking another sip. "Yeah, I guess."

  A shadow fell over the window, alerting her to the presence of someone outside before a knock sounded on the door. "Hopefully that's the guy that's going to fix the door," Jill said as she rose to her feet.

  Mandy and Emma moved with her, but when Emma spotted Ethan and Stefan on the other side of the door, she took a step back. Jill cast her an apologetic look before lifting the door a little and pushing it out of the way. Ethan's eyes found her instantly, her traitorous heart did a strange little flip-flop that almost made her melt but she straightened her shoulders and met his gaze head-on.

  "How are you doing?" he asked.

  "Fine," she lied.

  He glanced at Stefan and then behind him to Isabelle. "I wanted to let you know that we'll be outside if you need us for anything."

  She opened her mouth to tell him to come inside, to hold her, and make the horrible events of the night better but her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. "You could come to our place, stay with us. It would be safer there, especially with our younger brothers coming," Isabelle offered eagerly.

  Emma's gaze traveled over them. "You're all like them, like him?" she asked though she already knew the answer.

  Isabelle glanced at Stefan before nodding. "There is a lot to explain," Ethan said. "When you're ready to talk."

  Jill nudged her but Emma was having trouble finding her voice again. "We have a lot of questions," Jill told him.

  "You can never tell anyone about this, ever," Stefan said gruffly as Emma studied them with a fresh set of eyes. They all exuded an aura of power that had always been there, and that she'd picked up on before, but now she finally understood the reason why. Isabelle's face was filled with anxiety as she watched Emma. She was ringing her hands before her, a gesture Emma never thought she'd see the normally confidant woman make.

  "Who would believe us even if we did tell someone?" Mandy asked.

  "There are people that would," Stefan told her. "People that would like nothing more than to see all of us dead."

  Emma's eyes flew to Ethan, no matter how upset and frightened she was right now, the last thing in the world she wanted was to see him hurt, in any way, and she especially didn't want to be the cause of it. But then, she'd already caused him to be hurt last night when Tristan and his friends attacked them. She took a step toward him before catching herself and stopping near the stairs.

  "No one will know, anything," Emma promised. She had to force herself to look away from Ethan before she started to cry and forgot all about the fact that he had kept such a huge thing from her. But she supposed it really wasn't a first date conversation to have. She didn't see how anyone could work the whole, 'hey, by the way I'm a vampire,' talk in between the, 'what was your major,' and 'what's your favorite color,' conversation topics?

  Ethan exchanged a look with Isabelle and Stefan before turning his attention back to the others. He didn't know if that was going to be enough, but for now it would have to do. He could change Jill and Mandy's memories on his own; he knew he would only alienate Emma even further if he did though. It would also have to be done relatively soon, if it went past a week he wasn't certain he, or Stefan, could still do it. He studied Jill and Mandy, two women he barely knew but they now had his and his family's future, in their hands. That thought didn't sit well with him but to be fair, his family was the only protection that Jill and Mandy had agai
nst Tristan and his friends. All of their lives depended on each other and they were all going to have to count on each other to get through this.

  "Can we come in?" Ethan inquired.

  "I don't think we could stop any of you, not after what we witnessed last night," Emma replied.

  "Isabelle and Stefan haven't been invited in yet," he reminded her. "You may not own the home but you're residing here right now and that's all that matters."

  Emma's mind flashed back to the first morning Ethan had arrived here and Jill had so cheerfully invited him inside. Jill had no way of knowing then that she was inviting in someone with the ability to kill them. She could feel Jill and Mandy's eyes on her as she studied Ethan, Isabelle, and Stefan. They hadn't known before, but they knew now, and she simply couldn't allow them into this house until she had a better idea of what was going on.

  "No, I'm sorry, but no," she said. "We don't know any of you, not really. Jill and Mandy..." She hated the tears that burned her eyes but she refused to shed them as she unwaveringly met Ethan's troubled gaze. "I just can't."

  A pang stabbed through Ethan's chest but he bowed his head in agreement. "That's fine."

  "Wait!" Isabelle stepped forward but Ethan took hold of her arm and held her back. They stared defiantly at each other for a minute before Ethan shook his head. Isabelle's shoulders slumped and she gave Emma a longing look. Stefan pulled her away from her brother; Isabelle glanced back at Emma as she reluctantly allowed herself to be removed from the doorway.

  "If you need anything, anything at all, we'll be outside." Ethan turned around and left the doorway before Emma could respond.

  "It's almost like having two stalkers," she muttered.

  Jill rested her hand on her shoulder. "At least one of them wants to keep you alive."

  Emma released a harsh laugh. "I guess that's the silver lining in all of this."

  "There should always be one," Jill said.

  "I think I'm going to try and get some sleep, unless you want me to wait for the new door. It's my fault after all."

  "It's not your fault and I'll handle the door," Mandy offered. "I'm still pretty wired anyway."

  Emma turned away from her friends. All she could think about was lying down and getting some sleep, though she had a feeling sleep was going to be difficult to come by.

  CHAPTER 19

  The room was enshrouded in darkness when she woke sometime later. Memories filtered back over her and it took all she had not to groan and bury her head under her pillow. "Shit."

  She stared at the lengthening shadows moving across her walls and tried to decide if she really wanted to get out of bed right now. The shock, anger, and horror over what had happened last night had faded away while she'd been sleeping and now all she felt was a deep ache in her chest.

  She'd been falling in love with him, she'd found a freedom with him that she'd never known could exist and now she was left only with the hollow shell of those feelings. In his arms she hadn't felt inadequate and trapped, she'd felt strong and cherished, but it had all been a lie.

  Or had it? Everyone had their secrets, she had revealed all of hers to him, but some secrets were more difficult than others to reveal, and this had been one big ass secret.

  Emma shook her head and threw back the sheet she had become entangled in. She was really hoping a shower would clear her head and ease the growing anguish in her chest but she doubted it. Stepping beneath the stinging spray of the shower, she stayed under the warm water for a good half an hour before finally turning it off.

  Emerging from the shower, she wrapped a towel around her hair and another around herself. She returned to the room and was grasping for the lamp on the bureau when a small noise caught her attention. Her hand froze, her gaze darted around the room but she couldn't see much through the dark. Even still, her breath was trapped in her lungs as she continued to search the room.

  Then she heard it again. Grabbing hold of the lamp, she spun to her right as something came at her from the shadows. Whatever it was, it was crouched low and moving with far more speed than she had thought possible for something so small. And then it was rising up, growing taller as it continued to come at her.

  A strangled cry escaped her; the plug ripped from the wall as she swung the lamp up with all of her might. The force of it wrenched her wrist in its joint as the lamp cracked in half and part of it toppled to the floor. Her attacker was knocked off balance by the force of the blow, but even still their hands entangled with the towel and nearly ripped it away from her. She lifted what remained of the lamp and crashed it down onto the person's back. The second blow sent the lamp tumbling from her numbed fingers as the air rushed out of her attacker.

  The person had fallen in the direction of the other door to her room; there was no way she would make it to it without being caught by them. She grabbed hold of the top of the towel as she turned toward the French doors that opened onto the balcony.

  The towel in her hair tumbled away as she dashed around the rocking chair in the corner. She picked the chair up and heaved it blindly behind her in an attempt to dissuade her pursuer. Her hands fumbled over the latches on the French doors but she realized too late that the locks she had set earlier weren't in place. She had just managed to fling the door open when a hand tangled in her hair and her head was jerked cruelly back.

  Involuntary tears filled her eyes as her neck was twisted to the side and agony lanced through her brutalized muscles. "Tristan wants to have a talk," a man hissed in her ear.

  Panic tore through her to push away the pain. Fighting like a wildcat she began to kick backward at the person holding her as her fingers tore at the hand in her hair. An arm wrapped around her waist, she was lifted off of her feet and pressed against a burly chest. The man that held her wasn't tall; in fact his head was right behind hers now, but he was strong. Without thinking, she swung her head back and smashed her skull off of the man's face.

  A sickening crack accompanied his startled yelp. That cry and the hot wash of liquid dripping down her back was her reward for breaking his nose. With the man thrown off by her attack, she pulled her arm forward and drove her elbow roughly into his ribs. A grunt escaped him and his grip on her eased.

  Emma threw herself forward with enough force to tear herself free of the man's grasp. Off balance, she stumbled and crashed into the glass of the French doors. Thankfully the glass held up, but she bounced off of the doors like some kind of manic rubber ball. Behind her, she could hear the heavy breathing of the man coming at her. There wasn't going to be enough time for her to get away from him.

  A scream rose up and died in her throat when the balcony doors burst open and a shadow rushed into the room. Emma fell back and even though she couldn't see him, she instinctively knew that it was Ethan in the room with them. A startled scream filled the air as Ethan lifted the smaller man and smashed him into the wall with enough force to crack the plaster.

  The loud snarl that tore from Ethan made the hair on Emma's arms and neck stand up. She'd been about to go and help him with the man, but she found her feet frozen in place. The man squealed at the same time that a strange sucking sound filled the room. She tried to deny it, but she knew what that sound was, what it meant.

  Nausea twisted her stomach; a dull thud filled the room as the body hit the floor. Her hand shook as she searched for the switch in the bathroom and turned the light back on. Ethan's head swiveled toward her, his eyes were burning coals in the dark that caressed his body. His gaze relentlessly held hers; he seemed to almost be daring her to stay, to not run away screaming from him as he wiped away the blood staining his mouth with the back of his hand. Though her brain was screaming at her to flee, she found that she couldn't. He had just killed for her and as repulsed and petrified as she was, she couldn't turn her back on him, he deserved better than that.

  "Did he hurt you?" he demanded.

  "No." She barely heard the word but she knew that he had when he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.r />
  "Emma..."

  The door to her bedroom burst open and the light turned on. Emma blinked against the glare that flooded over her eyes. "What happened?" Jill cried.

  Emma's eyes were drawn to the crumpled body on the floor. Ethan moved swiftly to the side and grabbed the blanket off the bed. He tossed it over the man lying on the floor, but not before Emma caught a glimpse of the blood trailing from the puncture wounds in the side of the man's twisted neck. Whatever thoughts she had of the man possibly still being alive were doused by his unseeing eyes.

  "Who is that?" Jill demanded.

  "The gardener," Mandy said in a flat voice. "I saw him pruning the hibiscus just the other day. What is he doing here?"

  "He attacked me." Emma hugged the towel tighter around her as she recalled that it was all she was wearing. "He said that Tristan wanted to talk with me."

  "Why would he do that and how does he know Tristan?" Mandy's voice was stronger now but her eyes were round as she stared back and forth at all of them.

  "Tristan must have gotten to him," Ethan said as he studied the blanket on the floor.

  "Gotten to him and done what?" Emma asked.

  "Taken control of his mind."

  Emma's head spun but before she could think of anything to say, a new noise drew her attention to the French doors as Isabelle and Stefan appeared on the balcony. She tugged the towel closer around her but Ethan stepped to the side, grabbed the sheet from her bed, and wrapped it firmly around her.

  "You can do that?" she inquired as she tilted her head to look up at him. His eyes were still red as they met hers, a muscle twitched in his cheek and his jaw was set so firmly that she could almost hear his teeth grinding together.

  He had to fight the urge to crush her against him and never let her go. Instead, he forced himself to release her and drop his hands back to his sides. He had just killed a man, he'd thought that would have eased some of the primal urge to destroy and create mayhem that had always haunted him, but it hadn't. It had only shown him what he was missing as the life force of the man pulsed through his veins and the taste of the warm blood lingered on his lips. He wanted more. Touching her, if only for those brief seconds, had helped to bring him some serenity though.